Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(Pseudo Movie Review)

Yes, I admit it.

Not only do I enjoy Harry Potter movies, but I also love the books. I was hesitant to indulge at first, myself being one of those people who snubbed pop (pulp) culture (yes, I still refuse to read The Da Vinci Code). But I had little choice five years ago when a professor assigned Book One for a children's literature course. There are few keen life insights, but, man, that's entertaining stuff (so much so in fact, that I've since purchased & read the rest of the series — before passing each book along to my father).

I also own each of the films, and await every installment with baited breath (gross!). The recent DVD release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was no exception. I re-watched it in full this past weekend and was, per the norm, very much amused.

Much like the past two films (Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban), I'd caution parents against allowing young children to view this movie. One of the closing scenes is particularly disturbing — certainly one of the darkest of all six books thus far. That disclaimer aside, I otherwise enjoyed this film. Even though it's not necessarily my favorite, I do think it was the best adaptation to date. As a book,Goblet is probably my least favorite (too much petty squabbling amongst friends), but the film version aptly captures teenage angst without allowing it to drone on for too long.

But these things are to expected in any "coming of age" novel — even if it is about witches and wizards and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named type villains. As a Bildungsroman, Harry Potter has a target audience whose age count is considerably smaller than mine. But I take great pleasure in knowing my fondness for this series was matched by several of my grad school friends. (I was pleasantly surprised when grad school, among other things, turned out to be a support group for closet Potter-holics).

(And no, I don't mean Herman Melville's Israel Potter — another great work, for very different reasons.)

In sum: Goblet book = least favorite of the series. Goblet film = not necessarily the best in the series so far, but easily the best adaptation. Don't let small children see it.

The end.