Can’t hardly wait

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre 16 November 2005 page 6

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Directed by Mike Newell
Written by Steven Kloves
Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
GP / 147 minutes
Warner Brothers Pictures
Opens Nov 16

Dark times haunt Harry Potter at Hogwarts this year as he battles fiery dragons, terrible Death Eaters and… puppy love? Horror and hormones abound in the fourth incantation of the Potter series, the most elaborate so far.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is buffeted by nightmares about the dark Lord Voldemort on the night he joins Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint) and the rest of the Weasleys before their trip to the Quidditch World Cup. Even before the event would reach its climax, Death Eaters appear and terrify the campsite, presumably in search of something or someone in the crowd. Harry survives the attack and gets a glimpse of the perpetrators, which he reports to the authorities.

A quick train trip the next day and they’re back in Hogwarts, where headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) explains that Hogwarts is the year’s host to the Triwizard Tournament, a sort of quiz bee meets fear factor for wizards. The Goblet of Fire chooses Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) to represent Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour for the visiting French Beauxbatons, and Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian superstar seeker from Durmstrang.

To everyone’s surprise, including Harry’s, the goblet churns out Harry’s name as a fourth Triwizard champion, throwing the entire school into commotion. Ron resents the turn of events, suspecting that Harry cheated on being chosen. Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, takes care of the rejected Harry.

Meanwhile, in the annual Yule Ball, everyone is expected to get a dance partner, including the visiting champions. Harry has his eyes on Cho Chang (Katie Leung), who instead goes with Cedric. Ron finds difficulty asking a girl out, visibly irking Hermione, who decides to go with Viktor. Harry and Ron end up taking the Indian Patil twins to the ball, even if none of them enjoyed it.

In the first task of the Triwizard, each of the champions outwits a dragon to retrieve a golden egg; in the second they better the mermaids in swimming to save their friends under the lake. The third and final task is the deadliest, when they try to survive a maze of devouring shrubs. Harry and Cedric literally fight for the trophy towards the end, but the trophy transports the two to an unknown graveyard, which Harry recognizes as part of his nightmares.

The graveyard yields Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), resurrected into near full physical form by his servant Wormtail (Timothy Spall). Once again Voldemort and Harry confront each other face to face and the confrontation claims the life of… somebody. Everything is changing in Harry Potter’s world.

A year after Alfonso Cuaron’s successful Prisoner of Azkaban, Mike Newell directs a darker Goblet of Fire, foreboding death and violence in many of its scenes, particularly with the Triwizard tournament and the Death Eaters. A word of warning – this isn’t the same Potter movie like years before.

Newell puts some level of “real worldness” to Goblet – the Death Eaters are as much terrorists as hooligans gone berserk in a football match. For once Hogwarts feels like a real school, where kids bully and bicker, and the boys try to charm the girls – the Weasley twins get their own show. Dumbledore even gets more screen time, a proper preparation for his roles in the next Potter installments. More importantly, Harry, Hermione and Ron act their age. Hogwarts meets bagets.

A lot of things are also gone in Goblet – no Dursleys nor giant spiders or any house elf, Dobby included. The changes are welcome, considering the scope of Goblet the novel. However, the movie likewise crams as many details as it can (therefore the lengthy summary of this review). At two and a half hours, Goblet attempts to cover the usual Potter mystery elements, new characters, a budding love triangle, Voldemort’s resurging menace, everyday Hogwarts studies, the Triwizard tournament, etc one can almost scream, “I survived Goblet of Fire.” The movie suffers from the same malady that Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets shared – cramming as many elements it can take from the novel, although Goblet makes necessary improvements in the adaptation, something neither Sorcerer’s Stone nor Chamber of Secrets did.

From start to end, Goblet takes a serious tone, maybe a tad too serious for small fans of the books, though the book is decidedly darker still. But overall, no matter how excellently executed it is, Goblet suffers from its sheer weight. With too much going on, and three more movies to wait for, kids may choose to remember only a few things in the series, or adults may simply start caring less. Can’t hardly wait for the ending sounds like an option rather than anticipation. After all, wizards and muggles grow up just the same.