“Some of them could,” sighs Mike Newell. “And by God, some of them could not...” No, the Potter 4 director isn’t lamenting his kiddie stars’ thesping – rather their ballroom dancing. Generous to the last, he’s a fantastic presence on the two-disc DVD, seen nurturing his youngsters in copious Making Of docs. The franchise’s first Brit director has a sharp grasp on his characters, but Daniel (Gulp! Frown!) Radcliffe, Rupert (“Bloody hell!”) Grint and Emma (“Boo-hoo!”) Watson continue to struggle to elevate the drama beyond panto face-aching, leaving Goblet’s CGI to whisk hormonal chaos. Adolescent terror here becomes set-piece metaphor – golden eggs, feral transformation, a killer maze – while the superb adult cast again save the movie: Brendan Gleeson’s grogged-up “Mad-Eye” Moody, Alan Rickman’s Snape (again) and Ralph Fiennes’ chilling Voldemort.
Still, the second longest Potter flick yet can’t shake the franchise’s bizarre trait of moving too fast and taking ages to do it – a confident, uninspired mess that’s now hyper-familiar.
DVD Extras:
Packed with Making Ofs, the DVD similarly hits all its marks with solid efficiency. But at least Richard Curtis’ Q&A allows Grint to lay on an astute summation: “It’s a lot better than school.”
Deleted scenes
Cast interviews
Five interactive challenges
Making Ofs
Behind the scenes
DVD-rom bonuses
