2005 / 157 Minutes / PG-13
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

Another year, another Harry Potter movie. Harry Potter is back and he’s facing his most fearsome opponent ever: Puberty. He’s starting to look meaningfully toward members of the opposite sex (enter Cho Chang, an Asian girl with a strange Scottish burr in her voice…who wouldn’t find that appealing?), he’s having a spat with his best friend, he’s dealing with the adverse effects of his own popularity…oh, and he’s in a contest that requires him to fight a dragon. And I thought MY puberty was tough.

You might wonder if this whole world is getting a little stale by now, what with us getting a new cinematic installment in Harry’s adventures every time we get a new calendar, but that’s the way it has to be. The kids in the lead roles of these films are simply superb, and they get a little more comfortable with their roles and a bit better with their performances in each film. In order to keep this same crop of kids (and, really, they should: in my mind’s eye these kids simply ARE these characters) they’ve got to churn a new movie out each year so that the actors grow at the same rate as the characters. And since each new movie is helmed by a new director, that gives us a fresh perspective and a fresh set of sensibilities for each movie. Each new Potter film explores different facets of this fantasy realm, meaning each movie in this “franchise” (like Ben I detest the use of that word in relation to movies, it makes them sound like fast food joints) follows the beat of its own creative drum. Chris Columbus chose to film every word of the books, hoping to lose nothing in translation. Alfonso Cuaron (the man behind the third flick) gave the enterprise a breezy energy, a magical feel, and kept the dark undercurrents of the story firmly in place.

I feel that the latest director, Mike Newell, does a decent job…but considering all the elements of this film and the way they must play out, I rather wish Cuaron had returned for this installment. The Dementors in “Prisoner of Azkaban” were creepier than anything in this movie (though I must admit the hedge maze in this film comes pretty close). “Goblet of Fire” was my favorite book of the series because it was action packed and, by far, the darkest story in the series up to this point. Newell does a great job with things like school dances, but he doesn’t have a grasp on the suspense necessary to make the more foreboding aspects of this tale work. Technically, the effects and the camera work are great. Truly great. It’s just that the events in this film should have more suspense behind them, more oomph. For that, I blame the rushed pacing. The movie breezes along so fast that the droll flavor of the Potter universe is sacrificed along the way. The movie doesn’t have time to dwell on the little nuances that give these stories such a special feel. It’s too busy getting Potter from one set piece to another. It’s quickly paced (it’s the shortest two and a half hour movie I’ve ever seen) but it’s somehow less fun than the others. There are a few, wonderful, small moments in the film (one of which is a wordless moment in a classroom involving Alan Rickman taking a scene by force) but not quite enough of them. There’s a reason that the original novel was seven hundred pages long: not because it has so many big things to cover, but because J.K. Rowling took care to include so many wondrous little touches to enhance this story. Without the little touches, it’s still a good flick…but it’s nowhere near as enchanting, pulse-pounding and sometimes nerve-wracking as the book. Rowling knows that the details are what sell the fantastic world she has created. Newell is so busy trying to cram all the major plot points in that he neglects all the little things that make this imaginative universe soar. So instead of the dark, daring story I loved in the novel…we get a sort of “Reader’s Digest Abridged” version of that story, with all the major points but little of the flavor that made it so delightful.

The effects and performances are great, particularly the work of Brendan Gleeson as “Mad-Eye” Moody; the new teacher at Hogwarts. Ralph Fiennes is also in the film, and he does well with what he can, but he’s hampered by the fact that the final portion of the film lacks the dark gravity that it should have. Miranda Richardson is pretty good as well, though the abridged version of the tale abandons the pay-off of her particular character. Still, the “Harry Potter” films seem to be fulfilling their obvious requirement to employ every single actor in Great Britain. (Michael Caine and Peter O’ Toole are the only people left for the Potter films to cast. But, in all fairness, Caine has been in every other movie made lately. He’s a machine, but even HE can’t be in literally everything. And as for O’Toole, I believe the filmmakers’ failure to cast him was sheer oversight. Perhaps they didn’t realize he was still alive.)

If the film had been another half hour longer (hell, another fifteen minutes might have done it) and had been blessed with a bit more weight and intensity, I would have liked it infinitely more. “Goblet of Fire” is my favorite of the Potter books, but it’s easily my least favorite of the movies. It’s not a bad movie, far from it, it’s just…well, the movie needs to slow down, breathe a little, take time for little details and to foster a bit more suspense. If Mike Newell had done that, he might really have had something here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2005 at 8:47 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.