Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a significant step backward for the Harry Potter franchise. In truth, the movie isn’t a failure, but it’s all style, with very little substance. And, too, the creative liberties taken with this particular film severely undermine the story’s main thematic elements – of people having to work together in spite of any differences they may have. Instead, we’re treated to nothing more than a simple Hollywood blockbuster formula, playing up empty action and VFX sequences at the expense of the heart and depth of the characters and their interrelationships.

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Right from the start you can see the difference between Azkaban and the first two Potter films. Whereas The Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets focused on the wonder and majesty of the magical world, The Prisoner of Azkaban engulfs itself in the grit and potential darkness of that same world. Even composer John Williams gets into the spirit, creating a musical score that sounds as though it were lifted from the Dark Ages.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets isn’t quite as good as the first movie. There are a number of fantastic additions – such as Kenneth Branagh as the overly colorful Professor Gilderoy Lockhart and Jason Isaacs as the nefarious Lucius Malfoy. The plot is darker and more complex. And the three main heroes of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are all older. The ingredients existed for a superior film. Unfortunately, the pacing, some unnecessarily gratuitous sequences, and a dropoff in acting contribute to the film’s lesser quality, especially when compared to the first film.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is an impeccable film. From start to finish it accomplishes its task with hardly any flaws – a remarkable achievement for a movie that features children as its main characters. But in truth, the actors who portray the film’s three main characters handle their tasks with aplomb. The narrative is tightly focused, conveying not only the wonder of the magical world, but also its darker, more dangerous elements. As for the story, it plays upon some common ideas, but does so within a world that feels fresh, new, and wholly captivating. Who wouldn’t, at eleven years old, have wanted to find out that they were a wizard (or a witch)? What would it be like to discover that you were suddenly famous? And what if your past were to catch up with you?

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The trailer for the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince debuted today, July 29, at 9PM.  I’ve embedded this post with the trailer itself.  Also, a few pictures have been released.  The two most prominent ones feature a young Tom Riddle and Dumbledore fighting off Inferi.  The trailer and pictures are below:

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is, perhaps, a slight improvement over The Goblet of Fire. But not by much. There are enough poignant scenes, however, that do make the difference.

Because really, the big difference between the two films is that one (Phoenix) had an idea about what it wanted to be, whereas the other (Goblet) had little purpose. Order of the Phoenix, I think, is about fighting back against Wrong – no matter what its shape or form may be. I say “I think” because the film does a rather ineffective job of driving home that point. On the whole, Phoenix is sloppy, unfocused and flawed.

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The LA Times is reporting that, much like Voldemort’s soul, the final Harry Potter film, The Deathly Hallows, will be split in half:

“I think it’s the only way you can do it, without cutting out a huge portion of the book,” Daniel Radcliffe said. “There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut — although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans — but the seventh book doesn’t really have any subplots. It’s one driving, pounding story from the word go.”

Alan Horn, president and chief operating officer of Warner Bros. Entertainment, said Wednesday that “it would have been a disservice” to downsize “Deathly Hallows” into one film. “This way, we have an extra hour and a half, at least, to celebrate what this franchise has been and do justice to all the words and ideas that Jo has put in the amazing story,” Horn said. “This is the end of the story too. We want to celebrate it. We want to give a full meal.”

The two-part finale will be filmed back-to-back. Part I is scheduled to be released in November 2010, with Part II scheduled for a Mary 2011 release. David Yates, director of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film will also helm the Book 7 films.

I’m guessing that news of The Hobbit being split into two films emboldened Warner Brothers. On a technical level, I’m curious about where they will end Part I — guess I’ll have to go back and re-read the book. Personally, the worst bit of news about this is the fact that Yates is scheduled to film Book 7. I thought Order of the Phoenix was a mess (full review coming soon), so I don’t very high expectations. Perhaps The Half-Blood Prince, which is also being directed by Yates (and is currently in production), will change my opinion of him. We’ll see …

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In the grand scheme of things, does it really, truly matter that Dumbledore is gay? Of course not. At least, it doesn’t matter any more than the fact that Cho Chang was Asian, that Ron Weasley had red hair, or that Filch was a Squib. So why is it a mistake for Rowling to out Dumbledore? Because unlike Ron, Filch, and Cho, this part of Dumbledore’s character was never mentioned in any of the seven books.

And actually, this new revelation merely underscores a bigger problem with Rowling’s saga: With Book 7, she dropped the ball, big time. Remember the debacle that was the Epilogue? Those Deathly Hallows that came out of nowhere? The buildup, and perfunctory dismissal of the importance of the Horcruxes? Rowling rushed Book 7 into publication and has been, ever since, trying to fix her mistakes — after the fact.
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