作业帮哈利波特与火焰杯的影评或读后感..
来源：学生作业帮 编辑：作业帮 分类：英语作业 时间：2024/11/07 22:39:22
哈利波特与火焰杯的影评或读后感..
要求：
1、不要查百度知道里以前的回答,那里的我都看了.不好.
2、要较短的,因为这是我升高中的作业.所以词汇尽量不要太难.
3、我很快就要交作业了,
要求：
1、不要查百度知道里以前的回答,那里的我都看了.不好.
2、要较短的,因为这是我升高中的作业.所以词汇尽量不要太难.
3、我很快就要交作业了,
这些都是国内网上找不到的：
1
It's catch-up time for those who only ingest their Harry Potter on screen. While author JK Rowling released her sixth book earlier this year, cinema goers are a little bit behind, this being the wizard's fourth adventure - and his first since passing through childhood.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) are growing up and facing more dangerous adventures. No longer fighting giant spiders and trolls in the toilet, the plot hinges on the Tri-Wizarding tournament. The international cream of the crop of uber-talented young wizards, compete against each other to lift the trophy. Harry, being the best wizard Hogwarts school has seen for many years, is his country's obvious choice. But, not only does he compete against the best of the rest, he's also faced with tackling his personal demons once more.
As well as old favourites such as Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), new faces are also introduced with Ralph Fiennes taking up the role of evil Lord Voldemort, and Brandon Gleeson becoming Mad Eye Moody. The only downside is that the Dursleys don't feature.
Forget that twaddle about the actors possibly being too old for their parts. The characters themselves are getting older, much to the dismay of some parents who want Harry (and their own children, for that matter) to remain young and innocent. However, this makes the whole big screen Potter experience more palpable, with grittier performances from all involved, outstripping the somewhat whiney stage-school acting that blighted the first two films.
Dark and mystical with the cinematography, as ever, breathtaking. Director Mike Newell, on his first Potter effort, follows the book closely, for which true fans will be grateful. And geeks will appreciate the improvement in the special effects department, particularly the spellbinding scenes with dragons.
2
I went to see the movie with three of my four kids this weekend, we were hoping that it would not drag, being so long. Having read the book, my oldest and I knew it was a long story with much to cover. Though there could have been traps to make it drag, we were very pleased with the fine way they found to smoothly link everything together and not lose the spirit of the things they had to leave in the book. We did enjoy the third HP movie, though we did find this one to be vastly more appealing to the movie series. This was a fine movie and all involved with its creation and presentation to the big screen for our enjoyment deserve kudos. Special effects were wonderful, and the devotion to the written story was exemplary! We only wish it would have been shown on our stealth cinema with stadium seating instead of the standard screen. Other than that, Ten stars for sure.
3
Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is about to start and he is enjoying the summer vacation with his friends. They get the tickets to The Quidditch World Cup Final but after the match is over, people dressed like Lord Voldemort's 'Death Eaters' set a fire to all the visitors' tents, coupled with the appearance of Voldemort's symbol, the 'Dark Mark' in the sky, which causes a frenzy across the magical community. That same year, Hogwarts is hosting 'The Triwizard Tournament', a magical tournament between three well-known schools of magic : Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The contestants have to be above the age of 17, and are chosen by a magical object called Goblet of Fire. On the night of selection, however, the Goblet spews out four names instead of the usual three, with Harry unwittingly being selected as the Fourth Champion. Since the magic cannot be reversed, Harry is forced to go with it and brave three exceedingly difficult tasks. Written by Soumitra
Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year, where the Trizwizard tournament is becoming ready to begin. Students must be over 17 to enter, with the winner receiving eternal glory. Harry can't enter it this year...or can he. When his name is read out from the Goblet of Fire, everyone assumes that Harry Potter has cheated. Harry insists that he never placed his name in there, with someone else behind it. But Who? Harry must now survive through dragons, sea creatures and a terrifying maze, all before coming face-to-face with a particular dark wizard. Written by Film_Fan
Harry's fourth summer and the following year at Hogwarts are marked by the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, in which student representatives from three different wizarding schools compete in a series of increasingly challenging contests. However, Voldemort's Death Eaters are gaining strength and even creating the Dark Mark giving evidence that the Dark Lord is ready to rise again. In the unsuspecting lives of the young wizard and witches at Hogwarts the competitors are selected by the goblet of fire, which this year makes a very surprising announcement: Hogwarts will have two representatives in the tournament, including Harry Potter! Will Harry be able to rise to the challenge for the Tri Wizard Tournament while keeping up with school or will the challenges along with Voldemort's rebirth be too much for the young hero? Written by imann
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire takes us deeper into the characters' minds and the darkness of the Wizarding World. At the Quidditch World Cup, Voldemort's followers gather and wreak havoc. Then, at Hogwarts, a legendary event takes place. The Triwizard Tournament! The Goblet of Fire judges who gets in and who doesn't. On the fateful night, three champions are selected. But then the Goblet spits out one other. Harry's. These two major events point to the return of Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore and the other teachers sense it, but it is inevitable. And Harry is no longer safe at Hogwarts. This fourth installment is the most dramatic, and also the scariest. Let me just say that all does not necessarily end well... Written by Josh Millhouse
5
Well into "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Albus Dumbledore intones as only he can: "Dark and difficult times lie ahead." What does he think lay behind?
In this adventure Harry will do battle with giant lizards, face the attack of the Death Eaters, and in perhaps the most difficult task of all for a 14-year-old, ask a girl to be his date at the Yule Ball.
That Harry survives these challenges goes without saying, since in the world of print his next adventures have already been published, but "Goblet of Fire" provides trials that stretch his powers to the breaking point.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) was just turning 13 in the previous movie, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), and the Potter series turns PG-13 with this installment. There is still at least a mail-owl, and what looks like a mail-raven (it may represent FedEx), but many of the twee touches of the earlier films have gone missing to make room for a brawnier, scarier plot. Is it fair to wonder if the series will continue to grow up with Harry, earning the R rating as he turns 17?
Certainly Lord Voldemort seems capable of limitless villainy. Although we glimpsed his face in "The Sorcerer's Stone," we see him in full on screen for the first time in "Goblet of Fire," and he does not disappoint: Hairless, with the complexion of a slug, his nostrils snaky slits in his face, he's played by Ralph Fiennes as a vile creature who has at last been rejoined by his Death Eaters, who were disabled by Harry's magic earlier in the series. Hogwarts School and indeed the entire structure of Harry's world is threatened by Voldemort's return to something approaching his potential powers, and the film becomes a struggle between the civilized traditions of the school and the dark void of Voldemortism.
The film is more violent, less cute than the others, but the action is not the mindless destruction of a video game; it has purpose, shape and style, as in the Triwizard Tournament, which begins the film. Three finalists are chosen by the Goblet of Fire, and then the Goblet spits out an unprecedented fourth name: Harry Potter's. This is against the rules, since you have to be 17 to compete in Triwizardry, and Harry is only 14, but Dumbledore's hands are tied: What the Goblet wants, the Goblet gets. The question is, who entered Harry's name, since Harry says he didn't?
The Triwizard Tournament begins near the start of the film, but after the Quidditch World Cup, which takes place within a stadium so vast it makes the Senate Chamber in "Star Wars" look like a dinner theater. The cup finals are interrupted by ominous portents; the Death Eaters attack, serving notice that Voldemort is back and means business. But the early skirmishes are repelled, and the students return to Hogwarts, joined by exchange students from two overseas magic academies: From France come the Beauxbaton girls, who march on parade like Bemelmans' maids all in a row, and from Durmstrang school in central Europe come clean-cut Aryan lads who look like extras from "Triumph of the Will."
Besides Harry, Cedric Diggory is the Triwizard contestant from Hogwarts, and the other finalists are Viktor Krum, a Quidditch master from Durmstrang who looks ready to go pro, and the lithe Fleur Delacour, a Beauxbaton siren. Together they face three challenges: They must conquer fire-breathing dragons, rescue captives in a dark lagoon and enter a maze, which, seen from the air, seems limitless. The maze contains a threat for Harry that I am not sure is anticipated by the Triwizard rules; within it waits Voldemort himself, who has been lurking offstage and now emerges in malevolent fury.
Against these trials, which are enough to put you off your homework, Harry also must negotiate his fourth year at Hogwarts. As usual, there is a bizarre new teacher on the faculty. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (Brendan Gleeson) is the new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and seems made of spare parts; he has an artificial limb, and a glass eye that incorporates a zoom lens and can swivel independently of his real eye.
There is also, finally, full-blown adolescence to contend with. I'd always thought Harry would end up in love with Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), even though their inseparable friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) clearly has the same ambition. But for the Yule Ball, Harry works up the courage to ask Cho Chang (Katie Leung), who likes him a lot. Ron asks Hermione, but she already has a date, with the student most calculated to inspire Ron's jealousy. These scenes seem almost in the spirit of John Hughes' high school movies.
Most of the Potter series regulars are back, if only for brief scenes, and it is good to see the gamekeeper Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) find love at last, with Madame Maxime (Frances de la Tour), headmistress of Beauxbaton. Hagrid, you will recall, is a hairy half-giant. Frances is even taller, but she's a mercifully less hairy giantess. One new character is the snoopy Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson), gossip columnist of the Daily Prophet, a paper that has pictures that talk, like the portraits in earlier films.
With this fourth film, the Harry Potter saga demonstrates more than ever the resiliency of J.K. Rowling's original invention. Her novels have created a world that can expand indefinitely and produce new characters without limit. That there are schools like Hogwarts in other countries comes as news and offers many possibilities; the only barrier to the series lasting forever is Harry's inexorably advancing age. The thought of him returning to Hogwarts for old boys' day is too depressing to contemplate.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was directed by Mike Newell, the first British director in the series (he turned down the first Potter movie). Newell's credits range from the romantic "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to the devastating "Donnie Brasco" to the gentle "Enchanted April."
Such varied notes serve him well in "Goblet," which explores a wide emotional range. He balances delicately between whimsy and the ominous, on the uncertain middle ground where Harry lives, poised between fun at school, teenage romance and the dark abyss.
6
For legions of Harry Potter fans, the coming of a new film, the fourth adapted from J.K. Rowling's hugely successful literary series, is all they need to know. Where the first two films stood in awe of Rowling's work with all its magic and trickery, "Prisoner of Azkaban" and now "The Goblet of Fire" look more deeply into the developing human drama. The new director is Mike Newell, which is interesting because he is the first British director on what is a very British movie series.
Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.
7
It was bound to happen. Each “Harry Potter” movie prior to “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was able to outdo its immediate predecessor, but the odds were stacked against that trend continuing with every film in the series. Unfortunately, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is a step down from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” in both production and entertainment value.
We pick up the story at a particularly dangerous time in the lives of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Followers of the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) have made their presence known by disrupting the Quidditch World Cup. To make matters worse, the three friends are going through that special blend of pleasure and pain we all have to endure as we enter adolescence and leave childhood behind. Budding wizards or not, that’s a lot to handle for anybody.
The plot thickens as Harry finds himself mysteriously selected to be the fourth competitor in the Triwizard Tournament, a prestigious event that was supposed to only have three entrants and which was only open to students 17 and over. Someone entered Harry’s name into the competition but his best friend Ron doesn’t believe that, which causes a rift between the two close friends. Ron thinks Harry kept his plan a secret and finagled his way into getting a spot in the Triwizard Tournament all on his own. Harry didn’t, but Ron stubbornly refuses to believe the truth.
Meanwhile, Harry has more to worry about than his friendship with Ron. Harry has to prepare to take on the difficult challenges of the tournament, including doing battle with a fierce fire-breathing dragon. He also must do something even more frightening – find a date to the Yule Ball.
This fourth film of the series never drew me in and in fact, I had a rough time becoming involved again in the lives of the three main characters. I realize the kid wizards are growing up and finding members of the opposite sex as appealing as studying at Hogwarts, but the magic is missing from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is a more standoffish (for lack of a better term) film than the previous three, holding its audience at a distance for the majority of the picture until the last 25 minutes, which is almost too little too late.
Instead of allowing you into the confines of Hogwarts and the lives of its inhabitants emotionally, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” seems to instead insist on being a special effects extravaganza. And for the first time in the series, those special effects dwarfed the actors. For the first time, the CGI stood out clearly to the point it’s an easy task - and not just in the flight sequences or the scenes with the dragons - to figure out what was computer generated. The effects are too invasive. The actors play second fiddle, and that’s not how I like my “Harry Potter” movies.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint still fit the roles of Harry, Hermione, and Ron perfectly. They’re comfortable in the parts and we’re comfortable watching them. You can’t lay blame with the film’s shortcomings on those three. They are definitely growing up before our eyes, but they’re not so much older than their characters that it makes much of a difference yet. The lack of connection didn’t come from the actors; it came from a script that holds the audience at arm’s length.
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” looks and feels staged. The world of Harry Potter normally embraces moviegoers, but this time around there’s a frustratingly impenetrable wall between the world of wizards and us ordinary muggles.
Despite its faults, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is still a decent film and one that's sure to please most Potter fans. I just wish there was more emphasis on the humans in the film and less on the computer generated effects.
1
It's catch-up time for those who only ingest their Harry Potter on screen. While author JK Rowling released her sixth book earlier this year, cinema goers are a little bit behind, this being the wizard's fourth adventure - and his first since passing through childhood.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) are growing up and facing more dangerous adventures. No longer fighting giant spiders and trolls in the toilet, the plot hinges on the Tri-Wizarding tournament. The international cream of the crop of uber-talented young wizards, compete against each other to lift the trophy. Harry, being the best wizard Hogwarts school has seen for many years, is his country's obvious choice. But, not only does he compete against the best of the rest, he's also faced with tackling his personal demons once more.
As well as old favourites such as Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), new faces are also introduced with Ralph Fiennes taking up the role of evil Lord Voldemort, and Brandon Gleeson becoming Mad Eye Moody. The only downside is that the Dursleys don't feature.
Forget that twaddle about the actors possibly being too old for their parts. The characters themselves are getting older, much to the dismay of some parents who want Harry (and their own children, for that matter) to remain young and innocent. However, this makes the whole big screen Potter experience more palpable, with grittier performances from all involved, outstripping the somewhat whiney stage-school acting that blighted the first two films.
Dark and mystical with the cinematography, as ever, breathtaking. Director Mike Newell, on his first Potter effort, follows the book closely, for which true fans will be grateful. And geeks will appreciate the improvement in the special effects department, particularly the spellbinding scenes with dragons.
2
I went to see the movie with three of my four kids this weekend, we were hoping that it would not drag, being so long. Having read the book, my oldest and I knew it was a long story with much to cover. Though there could have been traps to make it drag, we were very pleased with the fine way they found to smoothly link everything together and not lose the spirit of the things they had to leave in the book. We did enjoy the third HP movie, though we did find this one to be vastly more appealing to the movie series. This was a fine movie and all involved with its creation and presentation to the big screen for our enjoyment deserve kudos. Special effects were wonderful, and the devotion to the written story was exemplary! We only wish it would have been shown on our stealth cinema with stadium seating instead of the standard screen. Other than that, Ten stars for sure.
3
Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is about to start and he is enjoying the summer vacation with his friends. They get the tickets to The Quidditch World Cup Final but after the match is over, people dressed like Lord Voldemort's 'Death Eaters' set a fire to all the visitors' tents, coupled with the appearance of Voldemort's symbol, the 'Dark Mark' in the sky, which causes a frenzy across the magical community. That same year, Hogwarts is hosting 'The Triwizard Tournament', a magical tournament between three well-known schools of magic : Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The contestants have to be above the age of 17, and are chosen by a magical object called Goblet of Fire. On the night of selection, however, the Goblet spews out four names instead of the usual three, with Harry unwittingly being selected as the Fourth Champion. Since the magic cannot be reversed, Harry is forced to go with it and brave three exceedingly difficult tasks. Written by Soumitra
Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year, where the Trizwizard tournament is becoming ready to begin. Students must be over 17 to enter, with the winner receiving eternal glory. Harry can't enter it this year...or can he. When his name is read out from the Goblet of Fire, everyone assumes that Harry Potter has cheated. Harry insists that he never placed his name in there, with someone else behind it. But Who? Harry must now survive through dragons, sea creatures and a terrifying maze, all before coming face-to-face with a particular dark wizard. Written by Film_Fan
Harry's fourth summer and the following year at Hogwarts are marked by the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, in which student representatives from three different wizarding schools compete in a series of increasingly challenging contests. However, Voldemort's Death Eaters are gaining strength and even creating the Dark Mark giving evidence that the Dark Lord is ready to rise again. In the unsuspecting lives of the young wizard and witches at Hogwarts the competitors are selected by the goblet of fire, which this year makes a very surprising announcement: Hogwarts will have two representatives in the tournament, including Harry Potter! Will Harry be able to rise to the challenge for the Tri Wizard Tournament while keeping up with school or will the challenges along with Voldemort's rebirth be too much for the young hero? Written by imann
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire takes us deeper into the characters' minds and the darkness of the Wizarding World. At the Quidditch World Cup, Voldemort's followers gather and wreak havoc. Then, at Hogwarts, a legendary event takes place. The Triwizard Tournament! The Goblet of Fire judges who gets in and who doesn't. On the fateful night, three champions are selected. But then the Goblet spits out one other. Harry's. These two major events point to the return of Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore and the other teachers sense it, but it is inevitable. And Harry is no longer safe at Hogwarts. This fourth installment is the most dramatic, and also the scariest. Let me just say that all does not necessarily end well... Written by Josh Millhouse
5
Well into "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Albus Dumbledore intones as only he can: "Dark and difficult times lie ahead." What does he think lay behind?
In this adventure Harry will do battle with giant lizards, face the attack of the Death Eaters, and in perhaps the most difficult task of all for a 14-year-old, ask a girl to be his date at the Yule Ball.
That Harry survives these challenges goes without saying, since in the world of print his next adventures have already been published, but "Goblet of Fire" provides trials that stretch his powers to the breaking point.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) was just turning 13 in the previous movie, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), and the Potter series turns PG-13 with this installment. There is still at least a mail-owl, and what looks like a mail-raven (it may represent FedEx), but many of the twee touches of the earlier films have gone missing to make room for a brawnier, scarier plot. Is it fair to wonder if the series will continue to grow up with Harry, earning the R rating as he turns 17?
Certainly Lord Voldemort seems capable of limitless villainy. Although we glimpsed his face in "The Sorcerer's Stone," we see him in full on screen for the first time in "Goblet of Fire," and he does not disappoint: Hairless, with the complexion of a slug, his nostrils snaky slits in his face, he's played by Ralph Fiennes as a vile creature who has at last been rejoined by his Death Eaters, who were disabled by Harry's magic earlier in the series. Hogwarts School and indeed the entire structure of Harry's world is threatened by Voldemort's return to something approaching his potential powers, and the film becomes a struggle between the civilized traditions of the school and the dark void of Voldemortism.
The film is more violent, less cute than the others, but the action is not the mindless destruction of a video game; it has purpose, shape and style, as in the Triwizard Tournament, which begins the film. Three finalists are chosen by the Goblet of Fire, and then the Goblet spits out an unprecedented fourth name: Harry Potter's. This is against the rules, since you have to be 17 to compete in Triwizardry, and Harry is only 14, but Dumbledore's hands are tied: What the Goblet wants, the Goblet gets. The question is, who entered Harry's name, since Harry says he didn't?
The Triwizard Tournament begins near the start of the film, but after the Quidditch World Cup, which takes place within a stadium so vast it makes the Senate Chamber in "Star Wars" look like a dinner theater. The cup finals are interrupted by ominous portents; the Death Eaters attack, serving notice that Voldemort is back and means business. But the early skirmishes are repelled, and the students return to Hogwarts, joined by exchange students from two overseas magic academies: From France come the Beauxbaton girls, who march on parade like Bemelmans' maids all in a row, and from Durmstrang school in central Europe come clean-cut Aryan lads who look like extras from "Triumph of the Will."
Besides Harry, Cedric Diggory is the Triwizard contestant from Hogwarts, and the other finalists are Viktor Krum, a Quidditch master from Durmstrang who looks ready to go pro, and the lithe Fleur Delacour, a Beauxbaton siren. Together they face three challenges: They must conquer fire-breathing dragons, rescue captives in a dark lagoon and enter a maze, which, seen from the air, seems limitless. The maze contains a threat for Harry that I am not sure is anticipated by the Triwizard rules; within it waits Voldemort himself, who has been lurking offstage and now emerges in malevolent fury.
Against these trials, which are enough to put you off your homework, Harry also must negotiate his fourth year at Hogwarts. As usual, there is a bizarre new teacher on the faculty. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (Brendan Gleeson) is the new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and seems made of spare parts; he has an artificial limb, and a glass eye that incorporates a zoom lens and can swivel independently of his real eye.
There is also, finally, full-blown adolescence to contend with. I'd always thought Harry would end up in love with Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), even though their inseparable friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) clearly has the same ambition. But for the Yule Ball, Harry works up the courage to ask Cho Chang (Katie Leung), who likes him a lot. Ron asks Hermione, but she already has a date, with the student most calculated to inspire Ron's jealousy. These scenes seem almost in the spirit of John Hughes' high school movies.
Most of the Potter series regulars are back, if only for brief scenes, and it is good to see the gamekeeper Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) find love at last, with Madame Maxime (Frances de la Tour), headmistress of Beauxbaton. Hagrid, you will recall, is a hairy half-giant. Frances is even taller, but she's a mercifully less hairy giantess. One new character is the snoopy Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson), gossip columnist of the Daily Prophet, a paper that has pictures that talk, like the portraits in earlier films.
With this fourth film, the Harry Potter saga demonstrates more than ever the resiliency of J.K. Rowling's original invention. Her novels have created a world that can expand indefinitely and produce new characters without limit. That there are schools like Hogwarts in other countries comes as news and offers many possibilities; the only barrier to the series lasting forever is Harry's inexorably advancing age. The thought of him returning to Hogwarts for old boys' day is too depressing to contemplate.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was directed by Mike Newell, the first British director in the series (he turned down the first Potter movie). Newell's credits range from the romantic "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to the devastating "Donnie Brasco" to the gentle "Enchanted April."
Such varied notes serve him well in "Goblet," which explores a wide emotional range. He balances delicately between whimsy and the ominous, on the uncertain middle ground where Harry lives, poised between fun at school, teenage romance and the dark abyss.
6
For legions of Harry Potter fans, the coming of a new film, the fourth adapted from J.K. Rowling's hugely successful literary series, is all they need to know. Where the first two films stood in awe of Rowling's work with all its magic and trickery, "Prisoner of Azkaban" and now "The Goblet of Fire" look more deeply into the developing human drama. The new director is Mike Newell, which is interesting because he is the first British director on what is a very British movie series.
Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.
7
It was bound to happen. Each “Harry Potter” movie prior to “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was able to outdo its immediate predecessor, but the odds were stacked against that trend continuing with every film in the series. Unfortunately, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is a step down from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” in both production and entertainment value.
We pick up the story at a particularly dangerous time in the lives of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Followers of the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) have made their presence known by disrupting the Quidditch World Cup. To make matters worse, the three friends are going through that special blend of pleasure and pain we all have to endure as we enter adolescence and leave childhood behind. Budding wizards or not, that’s a lot to handle for anybody.
The plot thickens as Harry finds himself mysteriously selected to be the fourth competitor in the Triwizard Tournament, a prestigious event that was supposed to only have three entrants and which was only open to students 17 and over. Someone entered Harry’s name into the competition but his best friend Ron doesn’t believe that, which causes a rift between the two close friends. Ron thinks Harry kept his plan a secret and finagled his way into getting a spot in the Triwizard Tournament all on his own. Harry didn’t, but Ron stubbornly refuses to believe the truth.
Meanwhile, Harry has more to worry about than his friendship with Ron. Harry has to prepare to take on the difficult challenges of the tournament, including doing battle with a fierce fire-breathing dragon. He also must do something even more frightening – find a date to the Yule Ball.
This fourth film of the series never drew me in and in fact, I had a rough time becoming involved again in the lives of the three main characters. I realize the kid wizards are growing up and finding members of the opposite sex as appealing as studying at Hogwarts, but the magic is missing from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is a more standoffish (for lack of a better term) film than the previous three, holding its audience at a distance for the majority of the picture until the last 25 minutes, which is almost too little too late.
Instead of allowing you into the confines of Hogwarts and the lives of its inhabitants emotionally, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” seems to instead insist on being a special effects extravaganza. And for the first time in the series, those special effects dwarfed the actors. For the first time, the CGI stood out clearly to the point it’s an easy task - and not just in the flight sequences or the scenes with the dragons - to figure out what was computer generated. The effects are too invasive. The actors play second fiddle, and that’s not how I like my “Harry Potter” movies.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint still fit the roles of Harry, Hermione, and Ron perfectly. They’re comfortable in the parts and we’re comfortable watching them. You can’t lay blame with the film’s shortcomings on those three. They are definitely growing up before our eyes, but they’re not so much older than their characters that it makes much of a difference yet. The lack of connection didn’t come from the actors; it came from a script that holds the audience at arm’s length.
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” looks and feels staged. The world of Harry Potter normally embraces moviegoers, but this time around there’s a frustratingly impenetrable wall between the world of wizards and us ordinary muggles.
Despite its faults, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is still a decent film and one that's sure to please most Potter fans. I just wish there was more emphasis on the humans in the film and less on the computer generated effects.