Harry Potter film

[Guest guest]

I don't agree with the comments about the children's acting in the

first film. They acted like ....erm .... children! Also I would have

preferred shorter Quidditch scenes than it would appear there are.

 

Jo

 

Polished Potter ups fright factor

By Keily Oakes

BBC News entertainment reporter

 

Just months after the publicity fanfare of the release of the sixth

Harry Potter book the fourth movie arrives in the cinema with Harry

facing more danger as he returns to Hogwarts.

Mike Newell called JK Rowling's Goblet of Fire " a brick of a

book " which would have been impossible to include everything in just

one film.

 

Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint

The Potter children have improved with age

Rather than splitting it into two, large chunks have been slashed to

give the bare bones of the story of Harry Potter's fourth year at

wizard school and his first face-to-face encounter with his nemesis

Voldemort.

 

The entire opening has been cut out so this time the Dursley family do

not get a look in, instead Harry starts out at the Weasley's -

unfortunately there is no Julie Walters as Mrs Weasley.

 

With some of the story glossed over it leaves more time for some

impressive set scenes such as the Quidditch World Cup.

 

The teams whizzing around on broomsticks inside a stadium that reaches

into the clouds proves stirring stuff.

 

Seamless handover

 

The Triwizard Tournament, in which wizards are set potentially fatal

tasks, shows off some quality special effects.

 

After the high of the contest comes the news that Voldemort's

followers, the Deatheaters, are regrouping, sparking scary scenes that

justify the film's 12A rating, meaning young children cannot see it

without adult supervision.

 

An unrecognisable Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort also ups the scare factor

several notches.

 

Brendan Gleeson

Brendan Gleeson plays Mad-Eye Moody as suitably unhinged

While it is certainly darker than previous films it also displays more

of the teenage angst experienced by the wizards in the lead up to

their first formal dance.

 

Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have improved greatly as

Harry, Ron and Hermione since their first stilted performances five

years ago.

 

Their confidence has grown with age and its now easier to accept them

in their roles rather than young actors still trying to find their feet.

 

The new crop of young actors playing the likes of Cedric Diggory,

Victor Krum and Fleur Delacour have wisely been given restricted

lines, so their acting skills are not particularly tested.

 

Slick performances come from Alan Rickman as Professor Snape and

Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody, while Michael Gambon has made

Dumbledore his own, having inherited it from Richard Harris who died.

 

Although this film had a new director there is no clear difference in

the styles between this and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by

Alfonso Cuaron.

 

There was a marked difference between his film and the previous two

directed by Chris Columbus.

 

Newell has created a polished movie that will delight Potter fans but,

like the later books, probably will not attract new viewers because

the storylines become too complex to pick up so far through the series.