Ramblings from the Desert

The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. ~Benjamin Franklin

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Location: New Mexico

Author of the urban fantasy novel, The Music of Chaos, and the paranormal romance, The Canvas Thief.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire



Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Where curtains are a fashion statement.

Tuesday, by the way, is the time to go to a blockbuster movie. The J-man found a seat towards the middle of the theater. Nobody...no one sat near us. (It helps not to bathe for a couple of days.)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It's hardly worth the blogspace to explain who Harry is and where he goes to school. If you don't know, it's because you don't want to know and should be over at some art film's fan-wank site.

Hogwarts is host to the Tri-Wizard Tournament. So Hogwarts gets the home field advantage while Beauxbatons Academy, a school of magic and runway modeling (Pretty, pretty!), and Durmstrang Institute, are the visitors. Because this type of magical contest has a high mortality rate, there's an NC-17 age limit. This highlights a big difference between the wizarding world and the world of the Muggles.

Muggles, especially American Muggles, have a very low tolerance for risk, especially where their chiiiildren are concerned. Muggle parents won't let their kids climb a tree without a helmet and full rappelling gear. Dragons, dangerous underwater fauna? Nothing bothers wizard parents. Yet another reason it would be uber-cool to be a wizard kid.

Anyway, fourteen-year-old Harry mysteriously gets around the age requirement and best bud Ron is jealous. Actually, jealousy abounds in this installment of the series, but most of it is propelled by hormones. And this is the main sticking point some reviewers have had with the movie.

Huh? Harry Potter and company are fourteen years old. When I was fourteen I was so boy crazy I couldn't remember my name. Hogwarts, with its many dark corners, perfect for a romantic rendezvous, must have a progressive birth control policy. Otherwise, it would be Hogwarts School for Unwed Witches. One of the central events in the story is a Yule Ball and the boys must muster the courage to ask a girl out. Dragons are easy; dating is hell. The teen angst works for me because, A, it was in the book, and B, hormone-free teenagers are more fantastical than flying horses.

This movie is the darkest yet, owing to the less than happy ending. The pacing is fast, but at times hurried. When you try to cram a looong book into a couple of hours, stuff falls out like socks out of cheap luggage. But, for the most part, I liked it.

Highlights include: Mad Eye Moody's punishment of Draco Malfoy; the dragon; the Quidditch match, because it was shiny and mercifully short; Krum, who despite the G.I. Joe haircut, was much cuter than the book version; Cedric; Ron and Professor McGonnegall dancing; the Weasley twins; Lord Voldemort.

Lowlights: Weird scene with Harry and Moaning Myrtle in a bubble bath.

The movie fumbles a bit with the truncated story, but overall it's another good adaption.

 

Graphics and Content Copyright © Patricia Kirby 2005