The
first PG-13 film in the franchise – the story is growing up alongside the
characters. The dangers are more severe,
the stakes are higher, and on the lighter side, the interpersonal stuff is more
adolescent. Overall, this is one of the
more consistent in the series; though not as good as my favorites, it’s fairly
even and, in my opinion, doesn’t have many major issues. (If anyone needs the disclaimer, there’s one
major spoiler for this movie that impacts the rest of the series.)
Despite
unrest in the wizarding world, Harry isn’t too focused on Voldemort or his
followers, the Death Eaters, for much of his fourth year at Hogwarts. Rather, the big attraction is the Triwizard
Tournament, an international magic competition pitting Hogwarts against two
other European schools of wizardry. The foreign
visitors turn Hogwarts upside down; everyone is invested in the tournament,
interschool rivalry, and maybe a little canoodling. Each school is supposed to have a single
champion over 17 years old, but of course Harry gets in on the action – for
reasons unknown, someone enters him into the competition, setting him up as an
unprecedented fourth champion and putting him in serious jeopardy over the
course of the dangerous tournament.
This
was an enjoyable book for me and, for the most part, the movie captures
that. Director Mike Newell captures a
lot of fine humor, understanding that these kids are wizards/witches who can do
magic, but they’re also teenagers with ordinary teenage problems. The romance stuff manages to be fun without
taking over, and the Triwizard challenges are well-executed. There’s a lot of great student interaction,
not just among the trio, but throughout the school and its visitors; it really
makes Hogwarts feel like an actual school, not just a fantastical backdrop for
the story. While plenty is cut for time,
there’s not much that feels critically absent.
Michael
Gambon’s Dumbledore continues to top the quibbles list. Additionally, while a lot of the humor is
great, I find a few bits too over-the-top – much of Filch’s characterization
comes to mind. I can’t fault the film
for the next point, since it’s rooted in the book, but I also don’t like that
the French school is filled with frosty babes and the eastern Europeans are big,
brutish, and suspect. For a story that
opens up the greater wizarding world outside
the U.K., the foreigners are characterized pretty lazily. Similarly, the film does a disservice to
Viktor Krum, who’s mainly framed as a hunky meathead. I imagine it’s partly time constraints and
partly to serve the Ron/Hermione ship, but as someone who likes Krum and his
relationship with Hermione, it’s disappointing (and the constant potshots about
the brainless lunk of a sports star are boring.)
Finally: new cast member time! This film has Brendan Gleeson in a great turn
as the irascible MadEye Moody, a hilarious Miranda Richardson (Queenie!) as
gossip-mongering reporter Rita Skeeter, and a pre-Who David Tennant in a brief role (plus a pre-Twilight Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory.) The real draw, though, is Ralph Fiennes in
his stellar performance as the
resurrected Voldemort. He looks haunted
and half-formed, his intensity radiates off the screen, and whether he’s eerily
hushed or full-on seething, you can’t take your eyes off him. Just a sublime job, and the graveyard scene
is the highlight of an already-pretty-fine film.
Warnings
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