[This is part three of a four-part series. You can also read part one and part two. This article contains spoilers for the films discussed, but NOT for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]
Next up: Director Mike Newell's take on the Potter franchise. Newell cut his teeth directing TV but went onto demonstrate his range in film through well-crafted dramas (Donnie Brasco) and comedies (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pushing Tin). While clearly talented, he's not the first person that would have come to mind when choosing a director for this series, but obviously, all that matters is whether or not the film measures up. So how good is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Goblet of Fire sees Hogwarts hosting the Triwizard tournament, a competition between three schools that tests the wizardry mettle of students from each school. When the Goblet of Fire inexplicably chooses Harry to be entered into the tournament, Harry must do what he can to survive and to win, while still maintaining his humanity.
Goblet of Fire was the first film of the series to be rated PG-13 and I have to agree that it earns this designation. There's some disturbing and dark imagery in this film, and there are plenty of moments that saw me genuinely frightened. The challenges of the Triwizard tournament were among the most exciting and inventive elements of the series so far, and I watched each of the three challenges with rapt attention. The action is well-paced and Newell apparently subscribes to the "Lots of small things attacking a person as s/he is trying to get away" school of suspense filmmaking (and he does it really, really well).
[While we're on the subject of children getting attacked, is it just me or is Hogwarts the most terrible school in the history of Muggle-kind? Children are placed in peril with more frequency here than they are in the whole of films such as Slumdog Millionaire and City of God. Students can easily die during the Triwizard tournament (and in fact, one does), but somehow everyone is okay with that. The quidditch matches don't seem to safe either, with children hurtling through the sky on flimsy broomsticks while a massive metallic ball flies around at lightning speed with reckless abandon. And don't even get me started on the actual education itself: The Defense of Dark Arts class is the revolving door of professor appointments. Who exactly is responsible for hiring at Hogwarts, and why don't they do some standard background checks?]
We get a taste in this film of middle school/high school teenage dynamics, as the students are forced to find dates for the Yule Ball and the sexual tension between Hermione and Ron is brought to the forefront. I wasn't particularly interested in these developments, but I respected their presence in the film for one reason: They show that underneath all the magical happenings, and beneath the weight of fate upon the shoulders of students like Harry Potter, all of these characters are still just kids. They're insensitive, they're petulant, they're easily hurt, but they also have a lot of love for each other. Newell takes this opportunity to further build the relationship of these characters we've spent so much time with already, and it adds a different dimension to them that I'm ultimately grateful for.
Also, it's finally in this film that Voldemort ceases to be confined to the back of some guy's head or some withered husk, and instead, returns in the form of a man. I had my doubts about how this would play out, since up until this point, the myth was bigger than the man in my mind. Voldemort was effective as an unstoppable, amorphously evil force, when you had no idea what form he would take, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was Ralph Fiennes who would be stepping into the role. This is a man who has previously played the personification of evil, not to mention his recent turn as the psychotic hitman in In Bruges. Only someone with as much talent for vileness as Ralph Fiennes could possibly equal the unspeakable depravity of Voldemort; if they had gotten anyone other than
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