Goblet of Fire Media Reviews

Rocky Mountain News
Rating: B

The fourth Harry Potter movie revolves around fierce contests and frightful endurance tests. It's called Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , but it might just as well have been dubbed Harry Potter, Fear Factor.

The movie's ceaseless trials and encounters unfold against a backdrop of adolescent yearning. Harry and his two sidekicks - Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger - begin to deal with the unruly onset of hormonal tyranny.

But don't get carried away with all the teen angst: Author J.K. Rowling isn't John Hughes ( Sixteen Candles ), and Goblet of Fire seems as interested in testing Harry's combative mettle as in allowing ordinary coming-of-age issues to arise.

This edition advances the Potter saga through the presentation of a variety of set pieces, some quite spectacular. And if the movie sometimes loses momentum, it contains enough grand sights and magical mayhem to stir even skeptical imaginations.

Director Mike Newell ( Four Weddings and a Funeral) becomes the first Brit to turn the Potter wheel, and he begins by bringing one of Harry's recurring nightmares to slithering, eerie life.

Newell quickly moves to the movie's first major foray. Harry and friends travel to the Quiddich World Cup, which takes place in a giant, digitally realized stadium that's breathtaking. The visiting youngsters stay in tents around the stadium, and the whole event begins to look like a cross between the Super Bowl and a Scout jamboree.

This sports-related opening rings the movie's thematic gong. Goblet of Fire will revolve around a contest, the fabled Triwizard Tournament that pits Hogwarts against two other schools, the Beauxbatons from France and the Durmstrang team from Bulgaria.

Each player - only one per school is allowed - must be over 17. Harry, who's 14, winds up in the contest when the Goblet of Fire of the title spits out his name. Exactly why this happens isn't revealed until the end, but you can bet that someone's up to no good.

The competition forces the contestants to face terrible ordeals - irritable dragons, underwater rescues and a trip into a maze in which participants can lose not only their way but their identity. All this requires a vast catalog of nifty special effects, but it would have been even nicer had Goblet of Fire found ways to sizzle when its visual pot wasn't being brought to a boil.

Newell's direction doesn't seem nearly as fluid as that of Alfonso Cuaron, who took charge of the last installment. At times, it feels as if Newell is working from a checklist of story elements. Cue the dragons.

Each Potter movie mixes the old and the new. This time out, some of the new characters seem as if they're designed to accessorize this year's model. Still, the actors seem game.

Brendan Gleeson appears to be having a ball as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Miranda Richardson bubbles furiously as Rita Skeeter, a gossip-mongering journalist.

The three youngsters who have been with the series from the start remain in fine form. And it must be acknowledged that half the pleasure of a Potter movie derives from watching these actors - Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson - grow up.

Though taller, Grint, who plays Weasley, seems the least changed from previous movies. Radcliffe has the look of a young man growing out of Harry's trademark spectacles. A few more years and he may more resemble an MBA candidate than a budding wizard. Watson - one of the most beautiful girls ever put on film - is beginning to settle into a more adult look.

By the time Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) appears, we're ready for a ripping good scare. He provides it. Shaving his head and hiding his features behind a reptilian-like mask seems to have liberated the often-recessive Fiennes. He makes an electrifying Voldemort.

Some cautions (and spoilers): Parents who don't already know should probably be made aware that a student death augments the sadness of this installment, and even the exhilarating tone of the opening Quiddich match is disrupted by an invasion of Death Eaters, who leave the various student campsites a shambles.

Aficionados may regret that some of Rowling's novel has hit the cutting-room floor, but at two hours and 37 minutes, I wasn't about to start protesting. And the movie can't always match its vision with equal amounts of emotional involvement.

A personal note: Maybe it's just me, but for all the movie's spectacles, my favorite sight took place at the Yule Dance, where Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) dances with the taller Madame Olympe Maxime (Frances de la Tour). Bearded and as unkempt as ever, Hagrid allows his hand to slip down his partner's back, moving dangerously close to her posterior.

Who knew the old rogue had it in him?

Who's new

A new film means new faces, and fans wait anxiously to see whether Hollywood and J.K. Rowling saw the same thing. Some of the new characters/cast members making their debut in The Goblet of Fire :

• Cho Chang Acting neophyte Katie Leung's dad found out about the audition for Harry's crush from a Chinese TV channel and encouraged his daughter to go try out.

• Fleur Delacour Appropriately, French actress Clemence Poesy was cast to play a pupil at French wizarding school Beauxbatons. Goblet of Fire marks just the second time she's acted in English instead of French.

• Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody Veteran actor Brendan Gleeson ( Troy , Braveheart , 28 Days Later ) landed the role of the spooky new teacher with the peculiar eye that can see through walls, doors and the back of his own head.

• Rita Skeeter Oscar nominee Miranda Richardson reportedly got the part playing the yellow journalist who can turn into a beetle after she did an insulting impersonation of Hermione in a 2003 Comic Relief sketch.

Robert Denerstein is the film critic. Denersteinb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5424

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