Nominated For: Best Art Direction.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the adaptation of the fourth novel in the Harry Potter series which brings us back to the enchanting world of magic for Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. This year however is a very special year at Hogwarts considering the Ministry of Magic is reintroducing the Triwizard Tournament, a competition in which three of the wizarding schools' representative champions compete against one another for the Triwizard Cup, with the twist being that Harry Potter is strangely selected as the fourth champion and the only underage competitor. Harry then must compete in the deadly tournament consisting of three monumental tasks including getting past an immense dragon, rescuing students from frightening mermaids, and to navigate a dense maze filled with mystical obstacles.
Goblet of Fire, like Prisoner of Azkaban before it, stands out as a transitional point for the series in that the protagonists are maturing and the surrounding Wizarding World is only growing darker. The Hogwarts students are no longer hearing about evil and nefarious deeds, they are actually witnessing it as Harry confronts a fully formed, all powerful Lord Voldemort.
Goblet of Fire is helmed by yet another fresh director as Mike Newell takes the lead and it's clear Newell is concentrated on the character's newfound teenage angst and all that accompanies puberty. Newell handles this nicely as he plays up these moments for humor and through this maintains the lightheartedness of the series amidst the darkening overtones. I think it should almost go without saying that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion but quite frankly I find Goblet of Fire to be one of the worse adaptations in the series.
Do take this as a grain of salt though because I'm not saying Goblet of Fire is by any stretch of the word bad, in fact it's quite entertaining but it just doesn't compare to the actual novel seeing as the 734 page source material had to be condensed into just a two and a half hour film. This is in large part to the screenplay penned by returning series screenwriter Steve Kloves. In the previous installments it was easier to pick and choose small moments to take out without altering the story significantly but considering the Goblet of Fire was a whopping 734 pages Kloves had a difficult task selecting crucial story arcs and pivotal moments that needed to maintained and crammed into two and a half hours.
This issue rears it's ugly head in the film's opening as Kloves rushes through the proceedings leaving the audiences just as confused as Harry seems to be filling what would have otherwise been a huge plot hole with small bits of dialogue unsuccessfully. The beginning is so fast paced that it's unable to properly set the stage for coming events and the changes made to the source material do more to help trim the runtime rather than enhance the story. I will say that the second two-thirds of the film are wildly enjoyable and I believe that's because that portion was almost untouched in comparison.
Another issue I found was in the film's editing and partially the script as some scenes just felt incomplete and lacked the finality necessary before an effective transition, a small gripe but it grew cumbersome after awhile. Goblet of Fire's visuals are also uneven, the cinematographer Roger Pratt frames some goregous shots and production designer Stuart Craig creates an incredible set but the effects are mismatched in comparison. Some visual effects such as physical transformations looked like very early poorly-rendered CGI while creatures like the Hungarian Horntail dragon and magical objects such as the Pensieve and Triwizard Cup were stunning to see onscreen.
Goblet of Fire also includes some riveting action sequences like the three tasks and Harry's brief soiree with Voldemort. Another behind the scenes change was that Goblet of Fire was the first Harry Potter film to not feature a John Williams score and I'll say his lack of involvement was sorely missed considering Patrick Doyle was unable to conjure up one truly memorable composition.
The performances are once again a highlight of the feature as franchise mainstays return and new additions are made to the cast. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are all back as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger perfectly embody their respective roles as we all now at this point but this time actually are able to interject new character dynamics, as we see friction between Ron and Harry for the first time and the results of their pubescence. One thing I felt Radcliffe nailed in particular was how affected Harry seemed to be after witnessing not only a murder, but the return of Lord Voldemort, Radcliffe carried this sense of shock and foreboding complex emotion expertly.
The returning Hogwarts staff and students consisting of Michael Gambon's sagely headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Alan Rickman's sneaky Severus Snape, Maggie Smith's kindhearted Minerva McGonagall, Robbie Coltrane's sensitive Hagrid, Matthew Lewis' awkward Neville Longbottom, and Tom Felton's dastardly Draco Malfoy. Other returning characters include the Weasleys, Shirley Henderson's obnoxious Moaning Myrtle, Robert Hardy's stately Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, a brief appearance from Gary Oldman's kindred Sirius Black, Jason Issac's dreadful Lucius Malfoy, and Timothy Spall's dodgy Wormtail.
Significant franchise rookies for this chapter encompass the three champions Victor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory portrayed by Stanislav Ianevski, Clémence Poésy, and Robert Pattinson respectively, Jeff Rawle's Amos Diggory, Katie Leung's shy Cho Chang, Miranda Richardson's meddler Rita Skeeter, Brendan Gleeson's mysterious new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Alastor "MadEye" Moody,
and David Tennant's wicked Barty Crouch Jr. One new addition that I feel deserves a separate mention is Ralph Fiennes' portrayal of Lord Voldemort, a malignant force to be reckoned with and true contention for Harry Potter.
Goblet of Fire may not quite be the best foray into the wizarding world as the script, score, visuals and direction are missing the magical luster and consistency of it's predecessors, it is a valiant effort thanks to exceptional performances from a truly remarkable cast along with commendable effects and excellent production design.
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