I proclaim myself very impressed! The Harry Potter films have been a bit of a whimsical indulgence so far – cute adaptations almost purely for the fans, but paling in comparison to their literary counterparts. But Goblet of Fire was different. For the first time, I actually came out feeling that I’d just seen a good movie. In fact, I actually like it more than I liked the book. Things that seemed too obvious or even twee in the book were made real visual spectacles onscreen, and the pacing worked altogether better. I know that there’s a lot missing – Rita Skeeter, for example, seemed totally superfluous, and it was a shame to lose some of the scenes at the beginning of the film, before Harry goes to Hogwarts, but the meat and bones of the story were in place, and the real character development was all there. And that’s what made this film so appealing – the human element. Teenagers squabbling, having difficulty dating, and having dancing lessons for the ball. The bits that have nothing to do with magic or tournaments, but everything to do with charming, awkward humour and character. Ron falls out with Harry because he thinks he kept putting his name in the goblet a secret, they reconcile, but then Ron upsets Hermione by asking her to the ball only as a last resort, then ruins her night (as well as his own date’s) by being bitter when she turns up with Krum. That’s what Rowling does best – simple, charming scenes with her naturalistic teenagers.
And to make it even better, the three kids have improved their acting skills immeasurably! They may not be exactly the characters I read in the books, but they’re certainly their own, strong, individual onscreen characters now. Radcliffe was actually very good indeed as Harry. Very natural, very thoughtful, very real, and only very occasionally showing the flatness of the last films – but moving so far from it in the majority of scenes that I easily forgive him those instances. Watson’s Hermione is much more pushy and aggressive than the one in the book, but she inhabits that different character very well. And even Grint was actually funny in this film – genuinely, non-cringe-inducingly funny! All credit to Mike Newell for this, and to the young actors themselves.
Newell must be applauded, too, for the sheer visual spectacle of the film. The Durmstrang ship, the dragons, even simpler things like the faculty and the dramatic entrances of the visiting schools – they were so detailed, so exuberant, so much fun to watch. Rowling’s characters have never seemed so vivid – so COOL! Tiny Flitwick and enormous Hagrid, dark Snape and especially Gleeson’s magnificent Moody: all just fitted into the aesthetic so well, no matter how little they actively did. Like the best movie posters, their simple presence was enough to excite. I make special mention of Moody because despite him being far gruffer, far more genuinely threatening than he was in the novel, he was also far more human, and Gleeson performed the part with real bombast, and really stole the show. You really felt Harry trusted him at the end, when he takes him away to comfort him after all that has happened.
I don’t have a big problem with the glaring plothole after all, that being if all Crouch Jr wanted to do was get Harry to touch a portkey, he could have done it at any time without the risk of the tournament. Dumbledore might have been guarding against portkeys, and let that one slide because it was supposed to bring you back to the start of the maze, for example. Besides, the climax isn’t what really matters here. It’s done well, with Ralph Fiennes doing well with an almost pantomime part, making it genuinely rather creepy even through all the prosthetics, and Crouch Jr’s appearance is given the appearance of being a clever twist by our finally seeing who was stealing the Polyjuice ingredients when in truth it’s a real case of the expedience of magic, but the things that really matter in this film are action and character. Action is provided amply: a tournament is a convenient way for lots of great action scenes. The flight from the dragon is thrilling, the underwater adventure slightly too long but nonetheless suitably frightening (and I was very keen on it being Neville, not Dobby, who supplied the Gillyweed), and the maze just what it should have been. All three tasks must be very boring for the spectators, though. Still, there’s a nice theme of air, water and earth, e.g. flying carriages, the ship and the castle. The other three champions had about four lines between them, which was a shame, but nonetheless, they made quite an impact through the things we hear they’ve done. But I’ll say it again: the biggest strength of this film is character.
I cared that Harry and Ron were bickering. They were best friends, after all. I cared that Hermione was so upset. Her friend was being a bloody idiot. I was pleased when their conflicts were resolved. That’s what made the film special.
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