Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-What the Hell is a Grint Anyway?
Harry Potter is back in the forth installment in the ridiculously lucrative series. As always I start off by clearly stating that I am not usually into the magic oriented films, but I, overall like the Potter series. Now, that we have full disclosure on with the review.
This time Potter and the gang must compete in the Triwizards Tournament. The Tournament turns out to be Potter’s great test to date. More importantly he discovers that Lord Vlodemort is to be resurrected. By far this is the darkest and most adult of the three films in the series, and I personally felt the most satisfying.
The Quidditch Word Cup is particularly intense and sports some excellent CG and bluescreen. Quidditch, for those of you who work for a living, have sex, get drunk, have friends, have pets, go shopping or pay taxes, Quidditch is a sort of baseball, football, soccer hybrid played while riding brooms and amazing speeds. Overall, it is done very well.
It probably goes without saying that, as with all the Harry Potter films, there is much intrigue and I will not give anything away, except to say that this time, there actually are some deeper revelations. Radcliffe’s acting has improved, especially since the second film, but he is still in over his head and continues to hold the series back from its true potential. That said, Rupert Grint, who looks like what you would expect a Rupert Grint to look like, has really come into his own as Ron Weasley. Hopefully Grint will continue to get work after the Potter series as he actually has some talent. Emma Watson who plays Granger will undoubtedly be with us forever whether she can act beyond the limited confines of the Harry Potter films or not.
If I have any major “beef” it is that the teens of the Potter universe are much like the fabricated teens of most Hollywood films. The Goblet of Fire like the X-Men movies have teens that may get in trouble for not following the rules, a stable of Hollywood produced movies because we must make sure the rules are obeyed, but they’re never drinking, smoking, doing drugs, cursing, and no teen pregnancies. Hollywood rarely profiles teens in a real fashion in high-profile Hollywood blockbusters. I know, they are concerned about global markets and pulling in as many families of four as possible, but every now and then it would be refreshing.
Rowling continues to deliver solid stories as she unfolds her epic layer by layer. But not to worry fans there is still more Potter goodness for you sick twisted junkies to pump into your veins. I fear for all of you if she ultimately kills this Potter chap, it will be like Black Tuesday 1929 in parents basements all over the world.
Story A
Acting B+
Visuals A
Originality/Innovation B+
Enjoyability Grade A-
Home Theater/HD Factor A (In high-definition and next-gen DVD this installment in the endless Harry Potter series will likely look the best yet.)
Overall Grade A-
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