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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Currently in theaters everywhere
Run time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Mike Newel
Story by: J.K. Rowling
Adapted by: Steve Kloves
Cast: Harry Potter - Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley - Rupert Grint
Hermione Granger - Emma Watson
Rubeus Hagrid - Robbie Coltrane
Lord Voldemort - Ralph Fiennes
Albus Dumbledore - Michael Gambon
Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody - Brendan Gleeson
Rita Skeeter - Miranda Richardson
Minerva McGonagall - Maggie Smith
I am not a Harry Potter fan. I would not know a golden snitch from a golden goose egg and had to learn that calling someone a muggle was somewhat acceptable. What I thought I knew about Harry Potter comes to me repacked and filtered thru the perceptions of my six-year-old son. To me Harry Potter is all that is wrong with the current neo-pagan movement. Commercial, slick, wand waving Harry Potter and his Scooby gang always does the right thing. The only reason I tolerate Harry Potter is because for all his faults he teaches good morals and provides a bookish role model for little boys.
Enter Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and exit my pre perceptions of Harry Potter. In this the fourth adaptation of a J.K. Rowlings novel to the big screen, we finally meet the real Harry Potter. Here is a Harry Potter that looses his sugar coating. Gritty and real a now 14-year-old Potter struggles as much with himself as he does with his arch nemesis, Lord Voldemort. Wrapped in spectacular computer graphics against the backdrop of the fourth year at Hogwarts and a Triwizard Tournament, director Mike Newell gives Potter and company amble room to explore the triumphs and pitfalls of their adolescence. Gone is the sugar coating that permeated previous Rowlings screen adaptations. These characters are real. In the Goblet of Fire friendships are torn asunder, hormones are beginning to rage and even Potter wrestles with is own personal sense of morality and for a moment doubts himself.
This film is a solid PG-13 – not a G rated film with a bit of foul language tossed in. While some of the graphic sequences are quite splendid, they may be a bit too scary for a younger child. The cast of returning and supporting characters is long, but well intergraded each laying out a vital part of the story. The director here again is brilliant. In previous Potter offerings all of the supporting characters again and again introduce themselves to the audience then explain and justify their presence and abilities. You will find none of that in the Goblet of Fire. It is assumed the audience is familiar with the storyline and the returning characters. The only introductions that are presented are for the character roles which are unique to this segment of the Harry Potter saga.
Overall I would give this movie a B+ for action and adventure. It is two and a half hours of pure entertainment. The movie is well paced and balanced for both the younger and older viewer. And it even gives an old cynic like me reason to tolerate Harry Potter just a little bit longer.
Veritatem dies aperit.
LA. Judge
This film is a solid PG-13 – not a G rated film with a bit of foul language tossed in. While some of the graphic sequences are quite splendid, they may be a bit too scary for a younger child. The cast of returning and supporting characters is long, but well intergraded each laying out a vital part of the story. The director here again is brilliant. In previous Potter offerings all of the supporting characters again and again introduce themselves to the audience then explain and justify their presence and abilities. You will find none of that in the Goblet of Fire. It is assumed the audience is familiar with the storyline and the returning characters. The only introductions that are presented are for the character roles which are unique to this segment of the Harry Potter saga.
Overall I would give this movie a B+ for action and adventure. It is two and a half hours of pure entertainment. The movie is well paced and balanced for both the younger and older viewer. And it even gives an old cynic like me reason to tolerate Harry Potter just a little bit longer.