A Slight Bump On The Wizarding Road?
Being that the previous filmic entry in the form of The Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuaron, was the first Harry Potter film, in that time, to have delved into the more ‘dark’ nature of the stories through excessive yet successful visual means, it was only natural then, that we would gradually see more of these dark tropes and a much more serious story being fleshed out, in Mike Newell’s Harry Potter iteration of The Goblet of Fire. With fearsome creatures, casual murder and a character hacking off their own hand in a peculiar yet odd satanic ritual, indeed, The Goblet of Fire goes far and beyond from the light-hearted Columbus productions, to a film that matures itself through serious horror/thriller cinematic approaches. It was no wonder parents, at the time of this films release in 2005, were conflicted on whether or not they should permit there own child in watching an edgy Potter, rated 12A, that could potentially disturb much of the younger demographic. Be that as it may, does Newell, in the cinematic sense and in trying replicate a good visual representation of the source material, create something that betters the previous entry? or something that is again different?…
Following on from a summer which involved him going to the final of the Quidditch World Cup, which resulted in Voldemort’s followers, the Death Eaters, wreaking harrowing chaos to many wizards and witches, Harry Potter, once again, returns to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his 4th year where his resolve and courage is put to the ultimate test. It so happens to be, in his fourth year, that Hogwarts is hosting ‘The Tri-Wizard Tournament’; a contest that’s decided between 3 different champions from 3 different wizarding schools who compete in a series of 3 increasingly challenging tasks. However, on the night in which the Goblet of Fire spews out 3 names to participate in this contest, fate plays its hand as a 4th name jets out of the Goblet, that name being… Harry Potter. To the shock of many, including his close friends of Ron and Hermione, Harry becomes the 4th Tri-Wizard champion; a fateful outcome which, in the end, would prove to beneficial for the rise of Lord Voldemort once more. Having no clue of who might have placed his name in the Goblet, Harry must now survive through dragons, seas creatures and a terrifying maze, all before coming face-to-face with a particular dark wizard…
Coming back into the cinematic space from it’s previous fantastical adapted brother of The Prisoner of Azkaban, which, at the time, stood as everyone’s favourite being that it strayed away from the ‘warmth’ of Columbus’ first two renditions into a Cuaron film that provided depth, darkness, meaning and visuality, the first thing to notice and to discuss of Mike Newell’s The Goblet of Fire, is how much it keeps some tropes that were left from the previous story, and how Newell delivers to us a much more simplistic horrific drama. While within this 2hr 30 minute beast of a dark children’s film (a total running-time which is certainly questionable) there doesn’t remain any of the ever-flowing camera movements and continuous single-takes which Cuaron efficiently used to set up the ‘darkness’ and character moulding of Harry Potter and the circumstances that he was situated in, one of the things that I liked that Newell took from Cuaron’s visionary take was the continuity of adding in this atmosphere of ‘darkness’ in Harry Potter film that most definitely needed it, as well going into more depth of this contextual theme of isolation. Even though I do have qualms over the lengthy running-time and how, within this time-frame, there is this certainty of a rather wonky pace, especially after the first high-production set-piece involving a dragon, credit does have to go the fact that there does remain this sense of prolonging darkness that is suitable for younger audiences to be enticed by. Very much like with traditional atypical horror flicks, we know the reveal of Lord Voldemort is to come; with the way he is mentioned by Harry, in interjected segments when we might see more glimpses of Voldemort in an abandoned and ghoulish looking mansion in Harry’s dream. The start of the this film, instead of usually seeing the camera swooping into Privet Drive, of seeing Voldemort with Wormtail and Barty Crouch Jr., very much sets the tone and tides of what it to come and is definitely refreshing to see to say the least. Another aesthetic that stood out in terms of the narrative of the film, is this continual contextual theme of ‘isolation’ that surrounds Harry Potter, which we first saw develop in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Despite the fact that we don’t see this theme of ‘isolation’ flourish within the cinematography, as we did with Cuaron’s previous incantation when Harry was placed in tight spaces within the frame on purpose, we do however see it fleshed out within the constructs of the story. As briefly explained in the synopsis, Harry’s journey, as it generally does in all the films and books, takes a fateful turn when his name is released out of the Goblet of Fire and is set to be the 4th champion of the Tri-Wizard tournament. When that happens, ‘isolation’ is a motif that play’s its part as his close friends start doubting him which results into seeing Harry, within the first quarter of the film, being all alone. You could argue that this idea of isolation was present earlier, when Harry gets knocked out in the chaotic scene after the Quidditch World Cup final, but, even still, it’s good to see again, a aesthetic that was first utilised in a previous film, carried over into the next. Of course, the 4th book is an important part of the Harry Potter story in terms of the ‘light’ tone changing radically into the complete opposite and how the characters change and adapt to sudden threat that is bestowed upon them. This tonal and contextual shift is also simply reflected in the film, as Newell bridges the gap by applying his stylisation and familiar cinematic nuances to the new things that occur in The Goblet of Fire. In fact, having directed the much recognised British Rom-Com of Four Weddings and a Funeral of the 1990’s, it’s easy to see why the inclusion of Newell for The Goblet of Fire was a good decision, considering that there is light-romance that is highlighted in portions. What was key for Newell in addressing this light-romance, which presented itself subtly with Harry’s small interaction with the character of Cho Chang on the train to Hogwarts, was to not delve into it too much, since the film has a lot to contend with story-wise and idea of romance within Harry Potter goes into more depth later on in the stories. It was promising to see the romance of the film culminate into a rather reasonable cinematic extract, in which we are given a montage sequence of all the major characters finding someone to go with at the Yule Ball, a classy dancing segment that is set-up rather well with white Christmas-esque visuals that didn’t feel out of place.
Along with the Yule Ball, The Goblet of Fire boasts its magnificence within the high-production value that it offers up and the action set-pieces that does make this film entertaining. The film is a far-cry from the first couple of entries within this hauled franchise as The Goblet of Fire is the first of the bunch that truly crafts action enactments which utilise both CG and practical effects. Now, looking at a children’s film such as this one and many others around this films initial release, it honestly wouldn’t have surprised me if this was a film that turned out to be a CG fest. What I mean by CG fest, is a film that stubbornly injects CG recklessly and lazily for no real cutting-edge. A good personal example of this would be the Star Wars prequels and how, more often than not, you do see a lot of characters that are placed within pathetic CG backgrounds that are laughable to look back on in this day and age. Thankfully, back in 2005, Warner Bros. and Mike Newell knew what they were doing with this film as there is a clear indication that CG is used in the right place at the right time. Take the sequence in which we see Harry flying and taking on the dragon in the first Tri-Wizard Tournament task for instance, that is a moment within the film that moulds together practicality and CG effects in a coherent and professional way. It never feels out of place when we see Harry clinging onto a studio built tower of Hogwarts school, trying to grab his fire-bolt, whilst a computer-generated dragon is clawing down towards him. It looks and feels believable when I recently re-watched it in this day and age where films are changing quickly and constantly. What’s more impressive, however, is how this level of entertainment sustains itself. We see it flourish in the scenes in which something action-packed is happening, whether it’s within the scene in which Harry goes underwater for his 2nd task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, or when Harry is duelling with Voldemort for the first time, which is a scene it of itself that pays good homage to, again, classic British horror.
As with every film that came before this one, character, performance and new-additions to the cast is what makes this Harry Potter filmic franchise recognisable. The standouts from the new-additions does have go to both Brendan Gleeson, for his performance of the edgy, feral and often animated Mad-Eye Moody and Ralph Fiennes who portrays a rather odd-looking Voldemort. I say ‘odd-looking’ due to the fact that I remember everyone was muddled over the actual look of Ralph Finnes’ character, and how he looked completely different from the books and what people were anticipating. Regardless, Finnes’ performance does stick out like a saw thumb; boldly delivering his lines in a antagonising yet fearsome way. The acting of the rest of the cast is, per usual, exemplary. Alan Rickman’s Snape may only have four or too few scenes within this films entirety, his presence is made known when he appears on screen and Maggie Smith still captures the essence of McGonagall. While I didn’t have any problems with his performance in the previous film, unlike others who did, Michael Gambon as Dumbledore really affirmed his position. The performance feels very human, very real in that we see him carry the weight of wizarding world on his shoulders and how his concern for Harry in the later stages of the film, is paramount. It isn’t just the fact that the film is perhaps ‘darker’ than the previous entries, but there are a few performances which do change ever so slightly. Rupert Grint’s depiction of Ron for instance is one character that changes from a comical friend of Harry’s, to a convincing bitter teenager that envies the position that Harry finds himself in.
For sure, I think it was always going to be hard for director Newell to better Cuaron’s fantastical visual brilliance of The Prisoner of Azkaban, being that Newell was adapting a beast of a source material that included a lot of important events that take place in the original book. While I do have my qualms over the length of the film and how the pacing and the structure did seem to fall flat on its face, The Goblet of Fire manages to pull the rabbit out of the hat; by offering to us a film that displays high-production scenes that out-way the many more action set-pieces that are seen throughout this lauded franchise and combines this with the ideas and contextual themes, that were first brought about in the previous story, that are fleshed out. It’s a fantastical interpretation that smartly combines the light-romance with the dark contextual issues that fully reference classic horror. The question that remains from this point is , can future Potter films sustain this level of subtle fright and fantastical imagination?… we’ll see…
And on that note, it’s time for me to end. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest film review and I hope you’ve enjoyed the read! If anyone has an opinion on the film or the review itself, please feel free to drop a comment down below. Next week I’ll either provide to you a film review from my Marvel Film Review series or a review of a film that has been recently released. Anywho, until then, I want to again thank you for reading what I have put out today. I’ll see you all next week!! Have a nice day and weekend!! Adieu
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte