By Alex Doust
Alright, before I start I’ll say that I am a Potter fan! Harry Potter has been a part of my life since some time in the 90’s when my mum bought me The Philosopher’s Stone audiobook. The first three films are brilliant; the last four films are also brilliant, but The Goblet of Fire is where it all goes wrong for me I’m afraid…
The first time we spot Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys they are walking up the hill to the portkey to take them to the Quidditch world cup! Not as great a start as the book, which has a hilarious moment introducing the Weasley Twins’ ‘Tonne-Tongue Toffee’ at the Dursleys’ with hilarious results. I was really looking forward to seeing that scene in the cinema, the lack of which set the scene for the whole film, as a heavily edited story.
Alright, before I start I’ll say that I am a Potter fan! Harry Potter has been a part of my life since some time in the 90’s when my mum bought me The Philosopher’s Stone audiobook. The first three films are brilliant; the last four films are also brilliant, but The Goblet of Fire is where it all goes wrong for me I’m afraid…
The first time we spot Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys they are walking up the hill to the portkey to take them to the Quidditch world cup! Not as great a start as the book, which has a hilarious moment introducing the Weasley Twins’ ‘Tonne-Tongue Toffee’ at the Dursleys’ with hilarious results. I was really looking forward to seeing that scene in the cinema, the lack of which set the scene for the whole film, as a heavily edited story.
So the film stars Dan Radcliffe, who later admitted to suffering with alcohol and depression issues when filming this one, which might explain his somewhat gloomy appearance onscreen; and he’s not the only one looking dishevelled, you’re hard pushed to find a main character in this film without a mop of lank hair!
But overlooking that, what really gets me about this film is the amount of material which was cut from the book, literally whole chapters are just brushed over, main characters cut, scenes changed and most infuriatingly, storylines changed to suit the cuts! 'Barty Crouch Junior’ for instance somehow managed to escape Azkaban before the film started and is Voldermorts servant from the word go.
About halfway through the film you have to stop trying to understand the story and just enjoy the ride, though even this is made difficult to by a more lacklustre childish sense of humour, which makes the film feel like it’s aimed at children, not a family audience. My finest example of this would have to be when Harry takes part in the second challenge, he dives out of the water, does a flip and screams “YEAHHH”. Now if that doesn’t send a chill down your spine then I don’t know what will…
But overlooking that, what really gets me about this film is the amount of material which was cut from the book, literally whole chapters are just brushed over, main characters cut, scenes changed and most infuriatingly, storylines changed to suit the cuts! 'Barty Crouch Junior’ for instance somehow managed to escape Azkaban before the film started and is Voldermorts servant from the word go.
About halfway through the film you have to stop trying to understand the story and just enjoy the ride, though even this is made difficult to by a more lacklustre childish sense of humour, which makes the film feel like it’s aimed at children, not a family audience. My finest example of this would have to be when Harry takes part in the second challenge, he dives out of the water, does a flip and screams “YEAHHH”. Now if that doesn’t send a chill down your spine then I don’t know what will…
VOLDERMORT! Got chills? No? Fair enough...
I have to confess though that the last 30 minutes of the film is a thrilling ride and really sticks to the story; from the moment Harry touches the Tri-Wiz Cup the film lives up to the standards of the others. Up to this point I would have to say the only enjoyable performance was Brendan Gleeson as Professor Moody. His take on the role, which included an Irish accent, is one of the singular joys of the film; he’s utterly and completely mad, a perfect adaptation of the character. The performances from Timothy Spall (Wormtail) and Ralph Fiennes (Voldermort) In the graveyard scene are also fantastic, and later on the superb, if short performance from David Tennant playing a deranged death eater does actually make you want to recoil in horror.
I have to confess though that the last 30 minutes of the film is a thrilling ride and really sticks to the story; from the moment Harry touches the Tri-Wiz Cup the film lives up to the standards of the others. Up to this point I would have to say the only enjoyable performance was Brendan Gleeson as Professor Moody. His take on the role, which included an Irish accent, is one of the singular joys of the film; he’s utterly and completely mad, a perfect adaptation of the character. The performances from Timothy Spall (Wormtail) and Ralph Fiennes (Voldermort) In the graveyard scene are also fantastic, and later on the superb, if short performance from David Tennant playing a deranged death eater does actually make you want to recoil in horror.
Of course one other thing that annoys be about this film is the unnatural amount of focus given to the character Cedric Diggory, played by non-other than the sparkly vampire himself, Robert Pattinson. It may come as no surprise that shortly after he is killed the film gets back on track. This is a typical example of how this film tries to pander to a different market, moving more towards a teenage girl movie than the family entertainment it should be
The blame for this has to lie with the director Mike Newell, the film just brushes over important details in the story that just can’t be forgiven easily. Of course they had a tough job to condense the original source material (over 700 pages) into a 154 minute film without affecting the story, however David Yates did such a good job on ‘The Order of the Phoenix’, proving it can be done; so well in fact that he took the Directors role for the next four films…
As a Potter fan I want to like this film, but I sit down and watch it and just find that I cannot ignore the errors and simply enjoy, which at the end of the day, is what watching films is all about.
The blame for this has to lie with the director Mike Newell, the film just brushes over important details in the story that just can’t be forgiven easily. Of course they had a tough job to condense the original source material (over 700 pages) into a 154 minute film without affecting the story, however David Yates did such a good job on ‘The Order of the Phoenix’, proving it can be done; so well in fact that he took the Directors role for the next four films…
As a Potter fan I want to like this film, but I sit down and watch it and just find that I cannot ignore the errors and simply enjoy, which at the end of the day, is what watching films is all about.
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