Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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Plot Summary:
Harry Potter battles homework, foreign exchange students, the forces of evil, and the sheer terror of having to find a date to a dance in his fourth year at Hogwarts. Much magic and darkness ensues...Opinion:
As noted in my articles on Harry Potter movies 1, 2, and 3, I have not read any of the books, nor feel I should need to in order to properly view the movies. If you need to read the book in order to understand the movie, why make the movie at all? Previously, this was not an issue as both "Sorceror's Stone" and "Chamber of Secrets" followed the text religiously with few details changed or left out. When "Prisoner of Azkaban" came out, more effort had to be made to create a comprehensible movie that remained faithful to the text but within the constraints of a non-mini-series length film. While my friends who had read the book complained about the omissions, I felt they had succeeded in creating a true movie version of Harry Potter--still faithful to the framework of the original text but streamlined specifically for the screen. The "Harry Potter" movie series seemed to be on an upswing...
Now here we are at "Goblet of Fire" where the seams of trying to shove an extremely long book into a 2-1/2 hour movie have started to show. "Prisoner of Azkaban" was abridged but still coherent--"Goblet of Fire" is the first Harry Potter movie where I genuinely felt lost while watching. Characters are introduced and then disappear for the rest of the movie without doing much of anything. Plot points are convoluted and hard to follow (Did I miss it or did the movie never explain exactly what "Polyjuice potion" was?) I seriously started to wonder if my DVD player was somehow skipping every third scene or something...
Even worse, "Goblet" suffers from much of the same poor plotting that plagued the first two movies, including an extremely dubious master plan from the arch-villain (the kind of plan that makes no sense whatsoever upon reflection but, you know, if he didn't do it that way, there'd be no movie...) and ending with another one of J.K.Rowlings' patented "ghost in the machine" resolutions (this time literally) that wraps things up for Harry at the end.
(It's probably pointless to remain spoiler-free since everyone by now is probably familiar with either the book or the movie, but I've left the specifics for the In-Depth Analysis section below...)
Similar to "Prisoner", "Goblet" doesn't really feel complete, either. Other than Voldemort having a body now, nothing has really changed from the beginning to the end, and neither good nor evil particularly triumphed in any small or large area. It feels like we just finished watching the second hour of a three hour movie where we're just biding time until the true conflict and climax arrives. Even "The Two Towers" had more of a self-contained sense of closure after the Battle of Helm's Deep, even though it was still just setting up the final movie in the trilogy.
In the end, I'm not sure what to make of "Goblet of Fire"--all things considered, I'd have to rank it 4th out of four movies--it certainly would be the least appealing to watch again out of the four. Is this a sign that the Harry Potter series isn't really a neat fit for the big screen after all? I can't say I'm all that excited to see "Order of Phoenix" when it comes out...
Content Analysis: (PG-13, 2-0-3-0 on the Baron's scale)
As "Star Wars" did last year, the Harry Potter series jumps into PG-13 territory for the first time with this installment. While it is dark, I don't think it has any particular imagery that's any scarier than the dementors from the last movie, nor is it really as heavy as "Episode III" (which many young kids have seen anyway). There's a lot of British profanity in this movie, though, which will mean little to American audiences, but I'd imagine might bother English or Australian parents... (See here for my article on profanity from different countries)
In-depth Analysis:
Some more specific notes from the movie:
- Insignificant Characters: The Death Eaters are introduced early in the movie when they blow things up--but don't do anything else the rest of the movie. Rita Skeeter is introduced early but disappears after the first hour and also has no important role in the events of the movie. Krum is introduced as being an excellent flier--oddly, he then never flies during the rest of the movie, nor, in fact, speaks much. Formerly significant characters such as Draco Malfoy, Hagrid, and Sirius Black have 'cameos' but don't do much either. In fact, contrary to the earlier movies, even Hermione and Ron don't have much of a part to play in the flow of the story either. Much of this is almost certainly due to many parts from the book being necessarily left out, but adds to the feeling of incompleteness that the movie creates.
- The "Extremely Dubious" Master Plan: Barty Crouch Junior (and Wormtail) need one thing to resurrect Voldemort: Harry's blood. What's their plan to get Harry's blood? Is it (a) Junior (disguised as Moody) waits until he's alone with Harry one day (like the beginning of the movie), stabs him with a knife, and runs away with the necessary blood? Or (b) comes up with an exceedingly complicated scheme involving Harry being mysteriously entered into a dangerous tournament where he may or may not survive long enough to touch the trophy so they can then take his blood. The 'plan' here has any number of fatal flaws: (1) it requires great planning and magical sabotage that will be taking place right under the nose of a lot of important people during a very public event, (2) it takes a very long time before it completes--almost the entire school year, (3) it involves the very public and strange occurrence of Harry's name being tossed from the Goblet beyond all reason--something highly suspicious that would only attract attention to their plot and (4) having Harry participate in the tournament only increases the opportunity for failure. If Harry had found himself eaten by a dragon or drowned at the bottom of the lake during the course of the tournament, there's now no blood for Voldemort. (Sure, they'd still be happy he's dead, but doesn't help in the resurrection process...) Even if Harry's presence was required at the ritual for whatever reason (instead of just a blood sample), Junior could have just cast a PortKey spell on anything: Harry's schoolbook, Harry's shoes--something that Harry would touch any day of the week and would get whisked away secretly without anyone ever knowing. Why in the world would you depend on Harry having to touch a trophy in a remote, dangerous location where the chances of him even making it there are slim?
- Question #1: Why wasn't the first thing out of Harry's mouth when he gets back to Hogwarts at the end: "Lucius Malfoy is a Death-Eater! I saw him!" Isn't this a fairly significant fact that was revealed right in front of Harry that other people might want to know about?
- The Underlying Premise: I don't quite understand why two complete schools of students would leave their homes for an entire year so one of their students can participate in a tournament. Note that during the second and third tasks the participants are completely out of sight of the rest of the student population, defeating the purpose of even being a spectator... I also don't understand why there wasn't more of an uproar about students being involuntarily captured and used as living bait during the second task. For all the discussion of 'safety' the tournament sure takes a lot of chances with student lives, doesn't it?
- Question #2: Now, I've seen Star Trek IV (the one with the whales) where sounds that are different underwater than above water play an essential part of the plot. There the sound transformation is credible, but how exactly does the screeching sound made by the egg translate into beautiful mermaid singing when placed in water? And how were the competitors supposed to glean that bit of knowledge in order to try holding it underwater, anyway?
- Harry Potter Villains: It's interesting that in all four movies, from Voldemort, to Tom Riddle, to Wormtail, to BC Junior, no Harry Potter villain actually plays a large role in any of the movies. They're always off screen and out of sight except for brief scenes near the end. Even Darth Maul had more screen time...
- Question #3: How does Junior's transformation into Mad-Eye Moody work with Moody's fake leg (which he takes off and shows us during the course of the film)? Does Junior have a fake leg too?
- Cedric Diggory: I think Diggory's death was mishandled. Here's why: Harry was meant to go to the graveyard through the Portkey alone--that much is obvious. Harry has the opportunity to reach the trophy alone, leaving Diggory behind. He does not--instead coming back to help Diggory escape the vines and then they both get teleported together. The obvious lesson here: there's always room for 'good sportsmanship' in any competition, and your rivals aren't necessarily your enemies. The movie's point seems to be Harry made the correct decision. And yet, in hindsight, Diggory's death was directly due to his being with Harry at the time--had Harry left him behind in the vines (non-fatal, as we saw with Fleur) he would still be alive. Harry did not know this at the time, of course, but it's obvious in retrospect. Why, from a plot perspective, would you undercut the important lesson of Harry's choice in the maze by having it become the primary cause of Diggory's death--even indirectly? Is that the lesson you want the children in the audience to come away with ('No good deed goes unpunished...')? And, as constituted we miss an opportunity for a stronger ending: Voldemort and his crew would not be expecting there to be two of them coming through the Portkey (surely, they'd reason, two competitors won't be working together and touch the trophy at the same time, right?). Diggory coming to the graveyard along with Harry thus becomes a wildcard to the carefully planned trap of Voldemort which they hadn't anticipated How easy it would have been to have Harry facing defeat, but have Diggory (who's not supposed to have been there) be the deciding factor in helping Harry escape. This would show the karmatic principle of Harry being kind to his competitor coming back around and providing his salvation (rewarding the earlier good deed), rather than the deus ex machina ending which still needed Diggory's help anyway from beyond the grave. A missed opportunity all around...
- On the Other Hand: At least as written Voldemort didn't fall for the "Talking Killer" syndrome (where the villain delays killing the good guy for no reason, usually just to taunt him for a while). As soon as he appears, he tells his henchmen to take care of Diggory without delay, as in his situation he should have...
- Of course, On the Other Hand: The "Talking Killer" syndrome is then exactly what happens with Harry after Voldemort's resurrection. If he had just taken care of business with Harry still immobilized (instead of tempting fate by freeing him) Harry wouldn't have had a chance...
- Question #4: Dumbledore warns the competitors that the forest maze 'changes people' and that people that go inside can 'lose themselves' if they are not careful... What exactly is he talking about? This description doesn't line up with any part of the competitors' experience inside the maze...
- The Good Stuff: Yes, there are a number of things I liked about the movie. The flying chariot and boat that the new schools arrive in are cool. (In fact, the French girls look quite smashing in their matching outfits) Harry's duel with the dragon is one of the better action scenes in all four movies. Hermione walking down the stairs in her dress (with a wry smile) at the ball is a great scene also. Emma Watson is going to be an absolute babe in ten years. Maybe sooner. (And don't think she doesn't know it...) I liked a portentous scene at the end where Snape is holding his wand into Junior's face while he waits for everyone else to leave. The movie cuts away just as it seems Snape is going to say something significant to Junior when they're alone which we don't hear. For those who know how the series continues, there are a number of things he could have said, with many dark implications.
- Question #5: As if one deus ex machina wasn't enough, we also have Dumbledore and company showing up and saving Harry from Mad-Eye Moody just when Harry needs it. Is there a particular reason why they would have suspected anything from Moody at that particular point in time, and that they'd know Harry was in trouble?
Random Notes & Comments:
- Between Sirius Black in the last movie, and Barty Crouch Junior this time, there seems to be a lot of criminals who find a way to escape Azkaban prison without much trouble. Perhaps a review of their security system is in order?
- Convenient that they happened to bring four dragons to the Tournament even though there was no reason for them to know ahead of time that there would be four contestants, isn't it?
- Speaking of which, if they were going to have the contestants go one at a time against the dragons anyway, why do you need one each? Just send them against the same dragon in turn...
