Just like Prisoner Of Azkaban, Goblet Of Fire is a Harry Potter film that changes the course of the series around completely into something new. Well, it opens the inner story even more anyway and makes it a lot darker to watch. This fourth one became the first Potter film to receive a PG-13/12A rating and every other film in the series after Goblet Of Fire received a PG-13/12A rating as well. So, we all knew this was going to be the start of something different. This is perhaps the most fun out of all the films because it perhaps features the most action, features some modern life segments and a much wider range of characters and magic.
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.
Daniel Radcliffe is a disappointing Harry Potter, let's face it. His acting was pretty flat in this one and his acting was just too forced! Naturally, you are going to have a lot on your shoulders by playing Harry Potter, but you at least need to act properly and have a strong stomach on-screen. So, that is one's opinion of what Dan really lacks when playing Harry, although on small doses he has improved. Harry has ANOTHER different hairstyle? Dan should just stick to one hairstyle when playing Harry, like Emma Watson did as Hermione. Rupert Grint does the same. Dan and Rupert seem to copy each other! This was the first film we saw where Harry ends up falling out with his friends (even Ron and Hermione) because they suspect he cheated into the Triwizard Tournament when he was really mysteriously entered by someone else. There is even a moment of bad language, but the ironic thing is that it doesn't happen again in any of the other films up until the very last one in the series.
Yet another Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher comes into it, and perhaps the most unorthodox and scariest-looking one thus far: Alastair 'Mad-Eye' Moody, who is portrayed by Brendan Gleeson. His role is perhaps the most underrated performance of the series and is amongst the best roles. Gleeson's performance as Mad-Eye was just fantastic and perfectly expresses Mad-Eye's character and nature, just like in the novel. However, there is a twist in stall for you as you watch the film. Robert Pattinson, an actor who I personally cannot stand thanks to the Twilight franchise, makes an appearance in the much-better series as Cedric Diggory before he resurrected into Edward Cullen. He actually wasn't that bad in this one, but still not a memorable performance. Because Cedric was a character that made a very crucial part especially as far as Voldemort is concerned, Cedric could've perhaps been involved in this film a bit more. Michael Gambon perhaps had a bit more involvement as Dumbledore in this one than he did in Prisoner Of Azkaban, but still didn't have a huge role in the film. This is the first time we see Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort aka You-Know-Who himself, and of what we see of him in Goblet Of Fire, he delivers a great, sinister performance that ultimately picks up the Voldemort character for the rest of the series.
The decision of changing director has occurred for the third time now in four films. Mike Newell, the only film in the Harry Potter franchise that he directed, and perhaps the only well-known film that he has ever made. His work on the Goblet Of Fire is at least satisfactory, but I think he perhaps made this one a tad bit too much like a Hollywood film. This means that he uses too much colour and doesn't make it quite as dark as the book really was. Don't get me wrong, the dialogue, the characters and effects are splendid, but they perhaps gave the duty to the wrong person. Alfonso Cauron should have returned as director. For the fourth consecutive time in the series, Steve Kloves pens the script and, although there are some cliched moments within the film, he still wrote it pretty well.
Overall, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire is an admittedly flawed Potter film, but it still remains one of my favourites from the series.Prisoner Of Azkaban became the build-up due to the personal story, but this one is a very crucial one too due to the events that occur towards the conclusion of the film. Pretty much the whole series has been reborn again.
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