Entering the IMAX theater in Amsterdam to watch the new Harry Potter movie, I was a little bit worried. Not so much about the quality of the movie, more about the other people in the theater. It was, after all, a sunday afternoon and the huge auditorium was packed with kids, many of them well under the minimum age limit. Visions of kids crying, yelling or getting up to go to the bathroom flashed through my mind, but the next two and a half hours showed that Harry Potter truly is a wizard: save for laughter at the many funny moments, as well as gasps whenever something amazing happened on the screen, everybody was silent, in awe of what was unfolding before our eyes.
And so we have the fourth Harry Potter movie, a pretty amazing piece of work that equals the best of what we have seen from the boy wizard on the big screen so far. In this new movie, Harry and his friends have started to grow up. They are, after all, now fourteen years old and puberty has kicked in, in a big way. So apart from fighting dragons and evil wizards, Harry now has to contend with a new and unexpected foe, that makes him lose his composure and shake with fear: girls! Yes, Harry is in love, which is a shame when you realize that the girl of his fancy is also being courted by another boy, who just happens to be one of his opponents in the spectacle that has everybody in the wizarding community talking: The Tri Wizard Tournament! This tournament is being held on a regular basis, featuring one contestant from three different wizarding schools, who must compete in some of the most dangerous events ever devised.
From the Bulgarian Durmstrang there is Victor Krum, a tough looking guy who also happens to be one of Bulgaria's best Quidditch players. From French all girls school Beaux Batons, there is Fleur Delacour, a gorgeous young witch who turns the head of all our male heroes. And from Hogwarts, the lucky contestant is called Cedric Diggory, a well liked and strong sixth grader who quickly becomes everybody's favorite. So there we have our three contestant, who are ready to do battle, when the Goblet of Fire (the magical atifact that selects the three contestants) churns out a fourth name. No prizes for guessing who that name belongs to...
What follows is outrage. Everybody at school is convinced that Harry has somehow tampered with the Goblet of Fire (one of the most important rules being the fact that you have to be 17 to enter, meaning Harry is three years too young) and they all turn up their noses whenever Harry walks by. Thing is though, Harry never entered his name and is as unpleasantly surprised by this turn of events as the rest. But there is no turning back. Harry will have to prepare for the tournament, while also having to contend with less serious stuff like the aforementioned girl trouble, acne, schoolwork, oh and a certain evil wizard who has been trying to get his hands on Harry since he was only a little nipper.
When I read the book this movie is based on, I was a little dissapointed. It had all the familiar elements and was thrilling enough, but it went on for a bit too long here and there and had an ending that was too open for my liking. As can be expected, the movie remedies some of this. After all, the book was twice as big as the previous book, but this fourth movie is only minutes longer than it's predecessor. Some subplots had to be cut out or decreased, and some characters were left out altogether. Luckily, screenwriter Steve Kloves made some very good choices when he decided what to cut out and what to leave in. The movie swiftly transports you from one incredible setpiece to the next, but also reserves some time for the characters to take a breather every now and then. One minute you are gasping for air as you see Harry being chased by an incredibly bad-tempered dragon, the next you are laughing out loud as you see Harry and Ron trying to cope with the eternal question: how am I going to ask a girl out on a date? It's this switching between styles that makes for a nice balance, giving the action scenes a bit more heart as you care more for the characters than when it had only been action all the way.
This is helped by the acting in the movie. The kids playing the main characters have been critisized in the past, in my opinion not always fairly, but they do a very good job in Goblet of Fire. Rupert Gint (Ron) is his old funny, bumbling, mugging self while Emma Watson (Hermione) is showing a lot of range and slowly turning into the type of girl 14-year old boys wouldn't mind going out with on a date (if they had the courage to ask). But it's mostly Daniel Radcliffe who impresses as Harry. In the first two movies, most he did was looking either confused or angry, but now he is much more believable as a more or less tragic figure on who the whole wizarding community is depending to save them.
The movie has many setpieces that you will remember for some time to come. There's two that stand out, each for their own reasons. There's the battle between Harry and a Hungarian Ridgeback dragon, which is visually stunning and makes it believable that even the most promising young wizard will wet himself when such a huge dragon is set on cremating him prematurely. The intensity of the fight is brilliantly paced, as you see Harry go slowly from despair at this impossible challenge, to hope that maybe he will come out of this alive after all. Another great setpiece is the yuletide ball. It's the type of scene every teenage comedy since the 80's has had, and it's fun moment where the main characters can just have some fun (save for the usual anxiety that events like this bring with them) every now and then.
I have to admit to still not being all too sure about the ending of the movie. After two and a half hours of amazing moments, it all ends more with a whimper than with the bang that you hope for from movies like this. Of course, this is the same in the book, and it's a bit inherent to a story that will be continued in future installments, but still you don't really get the closure you hope for. Especially people who have not read the books, and who expect Harry to just whoop some Voldemort-ass, might be dissapointed by the open ending. This makes this movie, despite all the great scenes and well thought out developing of the characters, a bit less satisfying than Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabhan, which tied up the story threads more neatly. Still, when you go see this movie you can prepare for a great time, whether you are a fan of Harry Potter or not.
****½
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