Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

The Harry Potter series is one of few that spew out sequels usually better then their predecessors. In The Goblet of Fire, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is chosen to hold a Tri-Wizard Tournament. The rules are simple: you must be the age of seventeen or older to enter.  That is about all there is of the rules. The twist in the beginning of Harry Potter is that after the three standard competitors are chosen the goblet spits out a fourth paper with fourteen year-old Harry's name on it. Dumbeldore must let Harry compete in the tournament against his better judgement. During this time, Harry has dreams about his nemesis, Voldemort, that do not bode well for he and the wizarding world.

 

Smarts

84%

I have never read any of the Harry Potter books but have always watched the movies ever since The Sorcerer's Stone was released in 2001. So usually when I enter any of the Harry Potter films the only knowledge I know going in is gleaned off of the trailers.

The Goblet of Fire is the first of the Harry Potter films to be rated PG-13.  The only difference I could tell from this than the others is the return of Voldemort. A lot of hype has been surrounding Ralph Fiennes and his role as Voldemort but I couldn’t even tell that it was Fiennes. The biggest disappointment that I had with the Voldemort character was that he was not particularly scary, and he's hardly in the film. You also don't get a very good sense of the power he supposedly wields when he is on screen.

The plot in The Goblet of Fire is the most enjoyable of the series thus far. The Tri-Wizard Tournament consists of three events; the first (dragons) and third (a giant maze to find the Tri-Wizard Cup) are very intense and leave you gasping for breath, though the second (having to save friends trapped underwater as mermaid-esque creatures impede their attempts) is a bit of a letdown after what looked like a fun scene in the previews.

Like all of the other Harry Potter films, the sets here are beautiful.  You get the regular classrooms, the majestic dining room, and the expansive exterior shots. What is different in The Goblet of Fire are the locations the tournament trials takes place in. This gives us, the viewer, a chance to see places that we were not able to see in the earlier films. One particular set of note in the film is a rather nasty hedge maze with a mind of its own. The surroundings there and directly afterwards during the film's climax are indeed creepy and add a touch of foreshadowing that something bad is about to happen.

The soundtrack is always meant to add a greater sense of feeling to a film. In the case of the Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros. switched from the legendary John Williams to Patrick Doyle to compose the film's music. Although it is not nearly as good as Williams work for the first three films, it does leave some lasting impressions.

 

Popcorn

76%

Due to The Goblet of Fire being rated PG-13 one would expect there to be more frightening images of creatures and scary things. And that is what you get when watching the film. But really, I cannot justify The Goblet of Fire's PG-13 rating.  I thought I would be seeing a lot more blood and Harry and Ron cursing instead of just saying “Bloody hell” five times in a row.

The action is top notch in The Goblet of Fire. One of the most well done scenes with a dragon I have ever seen is Harry's first challenge, as he is put to the task of stealing a golden egg from a fiersome looking dragon. When Harry’s dragon breaks loose of its chain we go on a ride with Harry as he is chased by the dragon high above Hogwarts. This is possibly the most enjoyable scene in the film, and the most action-packed.

When the annual Tri-Wizard Tournament takes place, there is a ball that comes along with it. When the students find out that they are to get dates Harry and Ron frantically try to find themselves one. Ron tells Hermione that she hasn't a chance in getting a date and he'd gladly do her the favor of taking her.  She goes off on Ron, telling him that she has been asked already and accepted. Ron assumes she is lying and is quite surprised to see Hermione with Viktor Krum, one of the competitors against Harry in the tournament. We actually get to see some shadow of the feelings that Hermione has for Ron and vice versa instead of each of them keeping it to themselves as they have in the past.
 

 

Final

After watching The Goblet of Fire I found it to be more exciting than all of the other Harry Potter films. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the film is better but it was much more fun.  Although the film is rated PG-13 I don’t see why you shouldn’t take a younger child to see the film. As I was after The Prisoner of Azakaban I am excited to see where the next film, the Order of Phoenix, will lead us and if it will be nearly as good as the last two films.