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Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire
"Harry Potter seems to be following in the footsteps of a typical Hollywood trend– sex and violence."
By Katie Soo
After the long anticipation, Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire is released to us! Directed by Mike Newell and featuring the original cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, this movie is the fourth installment in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. It guides you through yet another adventure as Harry Potter begins year 4 at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
In this episode, Harry takes part in the Tri-Wizard Cup Competition against competitors Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum from Durmstrang and classmate Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts. He battles dragons, mermen and the evil wizard Voldemort himself! Each difficult task is brought to life by the special effects, creating a very vivid depiction of the Hogwarts grounds and surroundings. Its compelling picture gives the underwater realm and mermaids a new meaning-- instead of being the beautiful, elegant creatures of myth, they are ruthless and frightening. The visual effects are so persuasive, that while watching a simple spell enchant a gigantic maze to fill the borders of Hogwarts, I couldn’t help but feel pulled out of my chair into the world of Hogwarts to follow in on the quest for winning the competition.
Even though the special effects are phenomenal, the cons seem to outweigh the pros. I wasn’t able to get a feel for the original story, almost like it was lost in the haul. The new girl, Cho, is too ugly to be Harry’s crush, and the annoying inserts of Barty Crouch Jr. into Voldemort's scenes are way too off base. And, the movie doesn’t even feature a full-blown Quidditch match! Also, I cannot help but feel its content is not suitable for children. Harry Potter seems to be following in the footsteps of a typical Hollywood trend– sex and violence. In the first two Harry Potter movies, the tone was more innocent, cheerful and fun, but in this episode the movie takes a dark turn and things get a little too graphic and sexual.
With Hollywood and its full blown sex and violence content films, Harry Potter would be the last film to be soiled by these temptations, especially considering it is rated PG-13. But while watching this saga, I couldn’t help but feel disturbed by all the racy and violent scenes. Hermione is completely overshadowed by the sexual gestures and comments—which are unnecessary and too explicit for children to understand. Also, when Voldemort is resurrected in the graveyard, the dark portrayal of life and death is far too realistic and gruesome.
This movie just doesn’t do the book justice. J.K. Rowling’s writing captured so many children, teens and adults—but yet, the movie was less than average when it came to transcribing those details into motion picture. Has the movie Harry Potter fallen at the feet of Hollywood’s far too underdeveloped and superficial trend? I’m afraid so. Even Harry Potter, the greatest wizard of all time could not resist the fighting temptations of glitzy Hollywood.
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