Audience of One

The Goblet of Fire

Of my predictions for this film, I feel I have been vindicated (again). This was the first Harry Potter film that I didn’t come away from thinking of the cheesy bits that annoyed me; I came away thinking of the good bits which I enjoyed. A definite improvement. I predicted a Lord of the Rings feel, which didn’t really emerge, but never mind.

So, to the film. Now, of course bits were missed out as they couldn’t hope to fit the whole book in – but some things were also changed completely. Sometimes this was good, sometimes it was bad. (If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to stop reading now.)

An example of a good change would be Rita Skeeter appearing in the champions tent before the first task just as Hermione hugs Harry. That was quite a clever way of introducing Hermione’s dislike of Skeeter, and made for an amusing scene. However they’d cut out Hermione’s revenge completely, making the whole character of Skeeter seem a bit pointless, or at least added on to the plot and not quite fitting in.

Crouch Junior also featured in Harry’s dream of the Riddle House at the beginning, meaning that he recognised him in the Pensieve. Of course, this leads to a much simpler denouement, but I felt it lacked power as it was abbreviated so much.

Daniel Radcliffe was improved from the last film, though not as improved as Rupert Grint (who was excellent). Emma Watson also improved, but as of the third film she was the strongest of the three anyway. I’m not sure I like Michael Gambon’s Dumbledore so much, but the other teachers have always been very good. The best actors in the entire film though were, of course, Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead as members of the Weird Sisters. David Tennant was very good as Crouch Junior, however I couldn’t help but think of Doctor Who.

After thinking about it a bit, I felt that what they chose to include and get rid of was, on the whole, wise – however I would have preferred to have Crouch Junior not present in the dream. The whole mystery over who Voldemort’s servant at Hogwarts is wasn’t developed at all (we hear about Karkaroff from Sirius but he’s not mentioned again really) and the ending did seem a bit weak. (Also, I’m not sure whether Harry being left in the wilderness at the World Cup worked, but it’s not so much an issue.)

All in all (what a terrible phrase – forgive me) it was a very enjoyable film, the best Harry Potter film yet, though not without its flaws – but then they are to be expected in any adaptation of a book. If you understand the Potter universe (whether or not you’re a fan) it’s a good film and worth seeing.

Matthew @ 20:47, November 20, 2005 to Reviews | Comments (5)