Harry Potter – the thrills continue

By Tania Martin
THE THRILL and mystery of Harry Potter has continued with the release of the fourth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
This latest instalment sees Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his close friends Ronald Wesley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) enter their fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Directed by Mike Newell, the Goblet of Fire finds Harry faced with one of his most challenging moments in the series with the emergence of the Dark Lord ‘Voldemort’ threatening throughout the film.
The best by far for its amazing display of ingenious sound and visual effects, the Goblet of Fire begins with the thrill and excitement of the Quidditch World Cup that is interrupted by a raid from the Dark Lord’s followers.
Once back at Hogwarts again, Harry is introduced to yet another defence against the dark arts (DADA) teacher, Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), a former dark wizard catcher who agreed to take on the infamous DADA position as a favour to the headmaster Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).
At the inaugural student dinner Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts would be taking part in the Tri-Wizard Tournament which would see Hogwarts compete against Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The tournament awards whoever completes three magical tasks the most skilfully, a thousand-galleon purse and the admiration of the international wizard community.
Along with Harry, fellow student Cederic Diggory (Robert Pattinson) find themselves representing Hogwarts in the tournament.
The tournament saw the students facing a dragon, the challenge of breathing under water for more than an hour with only magic as an aid and fighting through a maze to the Goblet of Fire.
As Harry battles to deal with life as a young wizard with the added pressure of a school dance and asking a girl to partner him, the Dark Lord is summoning all his powers to make a comeback.
The third task in the maze proves to be the darkest of them all with Harry and Cederic falling into a trap which was expertly manipulated by Voldemort.
A showdown between Harry and Lord Voldemort is inevitable and will keep Harry Potter fans on the edge of their seats to find out what happens.
Those who are interested in what happens to Harry should check out this latest instalment.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: four stars.