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Clarence Tsui

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe,  Emma Watson,

Rupert Grint,  Michael Gambon,  Brendan Gleeson

Director: Mike Newell

Category: IIA

Forget the digital wizardry or that much-hyped appearance of Harry Potter's Chinese paramour - the most defining moment in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire comes in a conversation between the 14-year-old boy wonder (Daniel Radcliffe) and his principal, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). As death descends into Hogwarts and nightmares visit him nightly, Potter's plea for help no longer conjures unqualified assurance from his mentor: 'I'm afraid there are no more easy answers, Harry.'

The gradual emergence of vulnerability in the  omnipotent Dumbledore reveals the leitmotif of the latest offering from the Harry Potter franchise. Uncertainty reigns in Goblet of Fire: life cannot be more distressed than a teenager who's battling  an evil nemesis, Voldemort (a noseless Ralph Fiennes),  and a seemingly-doomed first crush as well.

The two narratives unpack simultaneously in the form of Potter's enforced participation in the Tri-wizard Tournament, in which contestants attempt to outdo each other in increasingly hazardous challenges - the final of which  becomes Potter's gateway to a meeting with Voldemort. Unlike the more upbeat times of yore, fatalities finally come into play as the story progresses.

Mike Newell's proven track record of working wonders on both romantic comedies (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and gritty thrillers (Donnie Brasco) is  put to good use in Goblet of Fire. It is a credit to Newell to not  fall back on the vast bank of special effects he had access to; rather, he manages to retain some plausible humanity into J.K. Rowling's make-believe world, deftly drawing out Potter's struggle to maintain balance as puberty arrives.

With the abundance of CGI and just the right amount of darkness Goblet of Fire should press all the right buttons with its key audiences. The film - which boasts fine performances from the cast, apart from some over-acting by Emma Watson -  injects Hogwarts with more real-world grittiness and exorcises some of the exasperating dreaminess of the first three films.

One fears, however, that Goblet of Fire  may be  used in  culture wars. While progressives used to herald Harry Potter as a beacon against religious orthodoxy,  this film has waded into these waters on the side of the conservative right: cultural and gender stereotypes went unchallenged as viewers were introduced to Potter's competitors in the Tri-wizard, including a burly, cold Slav (Stanislav Ianevski's  Bulgarian Viktor Krum)  and an unnervingly sexualised blonde French student  (Clemence Poesy).

As Potter films move beyond being  children's entertainment, such social concerns - and important ones they are, too - await to be addressed.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opens today



Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire