Whoever would have guessed that the director of films such as ‘Pushing Tin’ and ‘Four Weddings And A Funeral’ could possibly bring us the darkest moments of the ‘Harry Potter universe’ to date. Certainly nobody could have picked it, but Mike Newell does an amazing job with ‘Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire’. This is also the film that sees the rise of another star… that of Robert Pattinson.
‘Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire’ is the fourth installment in this amazing series. This time round Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermoine (Emma Watson) are put in danger when they attend the Quidditch World Cup and it is attacked by ‘terrorists’ working for Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Harry then finds himself forced to represent Hogwarts with Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) in the Triwizards Tournament, a dangerous competition that Harry doesn’t want to be part of. Also part of the competition is Viktor Krum (Stanislav Lanevski) and Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy). And with Voldemort around it isn’t just the tournament that could cost these youngsters their lives.
This is the film that sees this series turn a major corner. The fact that extreme topics such as terrorism is explored shows that this series has ‘matured’ and when a love interest is introduced for Harry and sexual tension appears between Hermoine and Ron, you know that this isn’t a series for kids anymore. Teenagers will also learn a hell of a lot as they watch the fallout of friendship between Ron and Harry… this is something that all teens experience at school, so this is a good add of realism to the series.
Together Mike Newell and screenwriter, Steve Kloves do an amazing job bringing such a complex story to the screen without boring their audience and causing them to lose interest. The final fight between Harry and Voldemort is also some of Newell’s finest directing and looks absolutely brilliant on the big screen. This is one of the finest moments of the series so far.
Once again the acting in this series is exceptional. Michael Gambon finally steps into the role of Albus Dumbledore and makes it his own, while Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe continue to improve, while it is easy to see that Robert Pattinson is set to become a star.
‘Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire’ is a sensational film that contains everything that a film-lover wants to see on the screen. There is drama, suspense and for once a series isn’t frightened to kill a character if they need to. That certainly means that in future when a character’s life is in danger you will move a little closer to the edge of your seat. A terrific movie that fans of this series will completely adore.
Year: 2005
Director: Mike Newell
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Pattinson, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Stanislav Lanevski, Clemence Posey, Michael Gambon
Classification: M
Runtime: 157 mins
Rating:
