Drink in from the Goblet!

Let me say what I should probably be saying at the end of this post. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is an excellent movie and I would highly recommend it for both fans of the series and those who haven’t seen or read any of the movies/books.

Now lets get into my artsy-fartsy review of this movie :)
Warning: Might or might not contain spoilers. Mostly...might not!

The most striking thing about this movie is the fact that despite the omission of a zillion things from the book the essentials have been faithfully stuck to and the result is an enjoyable movie that is appealing to everyone.
The movie begins with the Quidditch World Cup and the special effects are a treat to the eye and made me realize how poorly I had imagined the whole thing when I was reading the book. Unfortunately, the world cup isn’t a pivotal part of the story and even before you finish explaining what is going on to the chic next to you (who doesn’t care much abt Harry and his friends) the wonderful imagery ends. Things unravel at a very good pace and the bulk of the story revolves around the ‘tri-wizard tournament’, a competition amongst three wizarding schools (I couldn’t help notice that Hogwarts was the only co-ed one...the other two happen to be a complete girls and a complete boys schools) in which four competitors (two from Hogwarts and one from the each of the other two) compete for the much coveted tri-wizard cup. The many subplots in the book have been omitted and during the course of the tournament events unfold culminating at the end with the return of Voldemort and another not-seen-before-in-the-previous-movies shocker which will surprise you only if you are someone who follows the series through the movies alone.

Someone worth mentioning is the very pretty Emma Watson (who plays Hermione Granger). I feel there is a little bit of a mismatch between the books and the movies that concerns her. The books have always described her as a plain-Jane who isn’t exactly known for her killer looks. In this story there is a part where she gets a complete makeover for a dance (the Yule Ball) and everyone is just floored by her new look. However when you see this particular scene you don’t really get the same feeling. She looks just as pretty as before. Instead of going from plain-jane to stunning-beauty she turns from pretty-girl to pretty-girl-in-a-nice-dress. Not that I’m complaining :)...its something that occurred to me.

The movie does have its little negatives here and there. Somehow I felt the goofy-humour content is shown a little more than necessary, to the extent that it takes away a little bit of the seriousness. Dumbledore and the others act goofier than before doing silly things and it kind of bugged me a little. But then again I guess I’m just being a purist!

And finally...Ralph Fiennes is GOD!
I was thrilled when I heard that he was playing Voldemort and my expectations of him as being a chilling, cold, evil overlord were fantastically met! The guy is awesome when it comes to these evil roles. He was excellent in the red dragon (as the ‘tooth fairy’) and of course the nazi officer in Schindlers list. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort is one of the many things to look forward to in the rest of the movies!

Like I said at the beginning...its worth your time and money! So watch it!
Tata