We move on to the fourth chapter as we now see a more mature development on its franchise, story and characters. As I was reading the fourth book, actually, I was more engaged in the story because of the competitive edge and also the evolving story surrounding Harry Potter's legacy and Lord Voldemort. Times have grown and are changing as the franchise becomes darker and a bit emotionally challenging as Harry struggles with his scar more than ever as Voldemort's presence is getting closer. The movie and the book's tone is quite deciphered as best as they can and even though there are patches of flaws and manipulation, the result is nearly an epic addition to the franchise.
 |
| The Four Champions. |
After the game, Death Eaters terrorize the spectators and the same mysterious man in Harry's dream summons the Dark Mark. At Hogwarts, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) introduces both Alastor Moody (Brendan Gleeson), the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and the Triwizard Tournament, where three magical schools compete against each other in a very dangerous competition in three challenging tasks. Barty Crouch, Sr. (Roger Lloyd-Pack) clearly states that no wizard under 17 should put his name in the Goblet of Fire, a selective entity that chooses the three competitors.
The champions are selected a few days later. The competitors are Cedric Diggory representing Hogwarts, Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) representing the Durmstrang Institute and Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) representing the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. However, the Goblet randomly selects a fourth champion: Harry Potter. Everybody looks down and is baffled by Harry being another competitor. Some of the staff protest but Crouch, Sr. insists that the champions are bound by a magical contract and that there is no choice for Harry, as he now has to compete in the tournament. Ron becomes jealous of him for some reason.
 |
| It's finally Voldemort. |
Also, the tension is balanced with some humor and maybe hinting romance in which the subject of puberty is thrown into the film. Earlier in the film, we see a sort of spark in Harry's eyes while he was about to buy some candy. He sees Cho Chang on the Hogwarts Express and then later, in the Great Hall which he has a bit of an embarrassing accident. But, also, the Yule Ball is in the middle of the film in which many people are attempting to ask people out. The funniest moment is when Ron becomes flabbergasted as he comes into the Gryffindor Common Room as he asked Fleur out but in a loud manner. The Yule Ball sequence is kind of a breath of fresh humorous air from the action because initially, I kinda hated the sequence but not as an adult, I appreciated it a bit more. It is not perfect because it is a bit cheesy and over-the-top in small areas but it is delightful.
The two main problems for this movie are 1) the score. Even though I like epic scores, I felt this score, at times, manipulated you to feel the emotion from almost every scene as it swells up like when they have to introduce a character or characters or just put it in solely for over-the-top drama. 2) The third task, in my opinion, was disappointing because according to the book, it was more scary with a lot of creatures coming out and taking control. In the movie, it was solely pure and off-screen dark magic and gusts of wind that creates very little energy. And, also, I noticed: how can the audience watch the third task? Do they have to sit in their seats the whole time? Do they have a television? I don't know.
Speaking of the third task, when Harry is now confronted by Lord Voldemort who is played very well by the great Ralph Fiennes with ghastly makeup, it is a quietly disturbing but mesmerizing scene as the enemy is now reborn again and ready to fight and kill Harry. This movie also starts one of many duels of the franchise as Voldemort is ready for business to kill him and his legacy forever. Again, there was a moment of Death Eaters marching in the middle of the camping site after the World Cup. Is it because of an act of terrorism or news spreading that Voldemort is coming back? It was a bit vague but it cleared out if you think about it.
Some of the supporting cast shines with Brendan Gleeson captivating the exasperated Moody real well and Rupert Grint kind of shines this time around as he is both funny but also more mature, at times, than his two companions. But, also at the same time, some of the main supporting cast such as Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith do not get as much screen time as in the previous three.
Director Mike Newell, however, captures the vibe of mature presence amongst the three main characters quite well as they transitioned into a chapter of being a teenager. For example, Ron and Harry verbally fight for some brief time as it could have easily turned into silly fights full of nonsense verbal dialogue (*cough* Twilight. *cough*). However, its dark vibe from the Warner Bros. logo to the end knows that the franchise is transitioning into darker material based on its first PG-13 rating because of intense action sequences and Lord Voldemort's first scene in the franchise. The studio knows that the story will get more kinetic and exciting. This fourth film establishes a range of fun to seriousness with such precision that you know that it could so far be potentially be one of its celebrated franchises. We're in the halfway point now.
***1/2
Comments
Post a Comment