After the Potter series matured under Cuaron's colorful direction, Warner Bros. took the series in yet another direction by picking up Michael Newell for the series-changing episode. Another notable change was the subtraction of the legendary John Williams in favor of Patrick Doyle. Steven Kloves continued as the writer for the series. This film is interesting in many ways. It is a lot larger than the previous three films in scope. Not only does it include the Hogwarts community, but also introduces the rest of the Wizard world for the first time. Its climax completely changes the tone of the series (more on that later.) But it isn't perfect. Newell follows along Cuaron's path (and improves on it in many respects), but it seems that Warner Brothers imposed some of Columbus' bad habits on the latest film. Cuaron's lacked a lot of the pomp and circumstance of the first two films (especially to start the film) and it seemed as if Warner Brothers wanted to infuse the series with more of that (given the fact that Cuaron's Potter was also the least grossing of the lot). The fact that the scope of the story enabled the opportunity only helped the Studio's cause. Hence the opening leading up to the Quidditch cup, etc. It is important to the story, but it feels like the opening of the film could have been a bit shorter considering how big the scope of the rest of the story. As an audience member, one cannot feel like the film does not really take off until a good 45 minutes in.What most interests me about this film is that while it turns into arguably the darkest Potter film in its later half, the film really is mostly light-hearted and cheerful for almost 2 plus hours. The competition, while filled with its share of frightening events (massive dragon and creepy mermaids things), maintains an overall lax atmosphere. There is an entire sequence dedicated to the preparation of the ball leading up to the ball itself. This sequence is filled with great moments of comedy and charm (Hermoine's Cinderella moment may be corny, but it is a charming corniness). Like Cuaron, Newell let's the main plot take a break here and there to let the character's live and breath. I would also like to add that the added character dramas actually made this the first real film in which I connected with the characters. I enjoyed them in the first three, but I finally became attached to them after this film.
It also helps that FINALLY, the main three seemed to hit their stride. Radcliffe finally looked in command of the character and has a few impressively emotional moments near the end of the film that left me shuddering (lying over Diggory's body bawling for example). Watson, who toned down her annoying character from the first two films in Azkaban and presented herself as a more humble character, further develops this connection with the audience. The aforementioned Cinderella moment and subsequent disappointment finally lets us see a vulnerability that wasn't apparent before. Rupert Grint adds some coquettish subtleties to his Ron finally making him seem like he belongs in the story and is not simply a clone to Harry (a stupid/annoying one at that). Michael Gambon finally has a prominent role as Dumbledore. Many complained about his more energetic performance that was borderline aggressive in some instants and how it betrayed the original performance of Harris. It may take Dumbledore in a different direction, but by no means does it betray the spirit of the character. If anything, it adds another layer. This man who is so quiet and relaxed most of the time does in fact have a potential to explode, making him far more interesting to watch. Brendan Gleason adds to the collection of British actors in this series and is certainly a welcome addition. In my opinion, he may well-be the perennial scene stealer with his ability to juxtapose his frightful appearance and behavior with the perfect blend of British sarcasm. The scene in which he deliberately disobeys rules and turns Malfoy into a ferret is a wonderful performance of comic timing on Gleason's part. There are other additions to the cast, most notably Robert Pattinson. This may not have been his breakout role, but it certainly got him noticed, but not for his acting abilities. He kind of gets a pass here because he was brand new and no one knew what he was capable of. But now it has been clear that his mediocre Cedric Diggory was not beginner's nerves, but simply the full extension of Pattinson's abilities as a thesp. Fortunately, when I first watched the film, he wasn't a big distraction given his lack of fame. He was simply a guy called in to play a supporting role and did an "eh" job. In the context of retrospect, he stands out a bit more and hinders the aging of the film given his subsequent fame. And then there is Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort. His Voldemort is exactly what I had hoped for. He brings a snake-like Satan to the character. Scary, and yet graceful, elegant, and even charming to a degree. In my opinion, the perfect casting and execution.
The end of the film is likely the scariest and edgiest scene in the entire Harry Potter series. It is also the reason that this series graduated from the PG rating to the PG-13 for the rest of its life span. It is not violent in a traditional sense, but there are some harsh images littered throughout the sequence. For the first time in a Harry Potter movie there is a mutilation and a death on screen. The final confrontation between him and Harry is gripping and the ensuing scene when Harry returns to Hogwarts with Diggory's corpse is one of the most devastating scenes in the series.
As I mentioned before, Patrick Doyle is brought on to take over to John Williams. His score is quite simply marvelous. My particular favorite musical moment in the film is the waltz he composes for the Yule ball which is possibly one of the most memorable tunes from the series (other than Hedwig's theme which is the most famous). Doyle's music follows closely behind William's model, but Doyle maintains a separate identity. While he does indulge in romanticism, he never quite embraces Williams' quasi-operatic style, and there is nothing wrong with it. Both composers brought their own strengths to the series and the music was all the better for it.
The visuals became of major prominence in this film after taking somewhat of a backseat in Cuaron's film (that doesn't mean they weren't there. They are simply not given big opportunities to showcase themselves.) Everything from the Quidditch Cup (which was tastefully cut down) to the dragon to the Priori Incantatem are all pulled off with admirable bravado.
Many people complained about the omission of major characters from the film (Dobby) and their effects on the rest of the series. I will concede that such omissions and changes did make the series lose some of its coherence later on (again Dobby). For the sake of the film on its own, the changes did not degrade from the story and in many cases served to improve upon the original template (the Quidditch cup getting cut, the changes in the dragon contest and the mermaid contest proved more cinematic than the original, etc.).
Goblet of Fire remains one of my favorite in the series because it finally looked to marry the best aspects of the first three films moving forward. The characters finally seemed to be taking shape and the story finally moved into a more dramatic and interesting chapter. No more vague enemies and mysteries. From here on out, the films would develop the dynamics between its two main opposing forces. Mike Newell would not come back for another film and neither would Doyle. The series would take one final step in a new direction before finally fixing all the mistakes of the past and improving upon the qualities that came before.
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