J.K. Rowling’s universe furthers its limitless boundaries, and with ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, the series’ translation to film continues to impress. Harry’s world represents endless possibilities, part of the series’ undeniable fun and excitement.
This time, the schools of magic are apparently international, spanning other nations and bringing these different institutions together for one slam-bang tournament known as the ‘Triwizard’, in which three 17-year-0ld students are chosen by the Goblet of Fire (much like the magic hat that selects students’ housing) to compete in a Battle Royale of Magic sort-to-speak; not battling each other, but against tumultuous threats, a competition I can’t wrap my brain around. These kids are put in life-and-death situations that test every ounce of their capabilities in the world of magic. With this knowledge, the school has an uproar when Harry Potter’s name spits out of the Goblet as an illegal fourteen-year-old fourth contestant. He is shunned by his classmates, especially his best friend Ron, which really made no sense to me. Hermione tries to reach out to him, but Harry keeps his distance. His nightmares of the Dark Lord are getting to him again, and whoever or whatever rigged his name into the goblet seems to spell doom for Harry. It doesn’t help that the Yule Ball is approaching for the youngsters either, forcing the kids to learn to dance and for the boys to ask out at a date. This could prove more complicating for Harry than anything he faces in the Triwizard Tournament.
This installment finally reaches a pivotal point in this remarkably rich saga. The story in particular finally revolving around the character of Lord Voldemort, which was briskly touched on in ‘The Sorcerer’s Stone’, gets into the thick of the encompassing story. With the Triwizard tournament, and another new director in the british Mike Newell, the movie has a lot more action than the previous films, lending this particular film a much swifter pace, and more exciting and scary threats for Harry. I could’ve done without the snotty Ron Weasley all up-in-arms over his suspicion of Harry somehow sneaking his own name into the cup. So what if he did? I also can’t quite comprehend how these competing international schools would allow such a tournament to go on. I suppose a lot of the magic performed at Hogwarts, including the fast-paced games of Quidditch, could prove about as dangerous. But Harry has to take on giant dragons, save his own classmates from an underwater obstacle course filled with evil creatures, and then has to wander through an endless, isolated maze that apparently can drive its occupants completely mad. This school takes the threats in the previous films quite seriously, so I guess I can’t understand why they would promote such a dangerous tournament where students could easily be killed. I also wondered what would happen to the students placed at the bottom of the lake in the second challenge. Harry finds Ron and Hermione among others down there, and wants to save more than one student when his task is to save only the sole selected. Would the remaining student(s) die if left there? Such questions puzzled me, but sort of became a bit irrelevant amidst the film’s excitement and proceedings.
The action here is a doozy. And the darker tone and return of Voldemort (played by a deliciously serpentine Ralph Fiennes) really help the series take a great leap forward. The cast again, redundant as it may sound, continue to take the reigns of their characters, though at times I felt a bit annoyed with Rupert Grint this time around. I think that’s solely because of how whiny his character is in this particular film. Otherwise, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson continue to impress. Brendan Gleeson is a welcome new addition to Hogwarts as a Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman (my favorite supporting character) may be getting a bit shortchanged, but that is to be expected. All in all, the film is a marvelously fun accomplishment. ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ is a dazzler, an action-packed installment that continues a thrilling series that miraculously dodges audience fatigue with endless surprise and invention.
-MJV & the Movies
LEAVE A COMMENT
The Expanse is one of those episodes. I can’t say that it’s entirely successful at what it sets out to do, but it’s certainly an interesting and entertaining ride along the way. The show starts out with an attack on earth by an alien probe, reminiscent of Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. Except instead of churning the oceans, this probe cuts a swath right out of the planet roughly 300 yards across and 4,000 miles long. It starts in Florida and goes clear to Venezuela, after which the probe self-destructs and bits of it crash-land on Earth. Blackout. Cue opening credits (and, of course, the mute button. *shudder* that opening ballad is still terrible.) This, my friends, is how to open a season finale.
On the other hand, though, was one of the lamest sub-plots I have seen this season. Doctor and T’Pol are stuck in the medical quarantine room after contracting some strange microbe on a planet they recently visited (I am weary of this story mechanic. would that it would change!) and, sure enough, they have to smear that goopy disinfectant gel all over themselves! Remember that awkward scene in the first episode? Remember how you nearly ran screaming from the TV? Yeah, it’s like that…only worse. As luck would have it, the microbe triggers (what else?) the pon farr. *sigh*
At its core, The Iron Giant is a story about a boy and his friend. This boy, named Hogarth, like the protagonists of so many of these kinds of films, is misunderstood by adults, has few companions at school, and spends too much time lost in his own imagination. He’s a bit 
The Brad Bird quirkiness comes from the sheer nature of the story: a kid befriends a 100-foot tall metal behemoth. It’s a bit different from typical Disney fare, you might say. But I had a hard time buying the friendship and the isolation from all adults. Early on in the film the giant causes a train to crash, and this should have been a pivotal turning point in the story. But for the most part people just continue in their daily lives afterwards while Hogarth and his pet giant continue to frolic about in the woods unnoticed, and no one in town (save for the savvy investigator) bothering to ask any questions. I can give animated films a lot of leeway and wiggle room, but I just wasn’t able to let go of some of these types of plot issues.
Things got started, as they so often do, with a mission that led to much more than the crew was ready to handle. Turns out the ship might be headed into a nebula full of dark matter, but they aren’t exactly sure just what is out there. Everyone is pretty stoked at the possibility of exploring this in a shuttlepod when Archer gets some bad news that someone named “A.G.” has died. Turns out that A.G. is a longtime friend of both Archer and Trip, and the news of his death immediatly sends the Cap’n into one of his emo moods, which left me holding my breath for another 
Loading ...
