Harry Potter

Morgan and I went to the last night showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Thursday night. There is one screen in town, inside the Subway restaurant (Nome's only chain). It's called Gold Coast Cinema and it's a pretty nice little theater. The seats are nice and high and the rows are at such an incline that nobody's head is ever in the way.

Admittedly, I was worried about this movie. I liked the first two but I didn't like the third one, The Prisoner of Azkaban, at all. I even like science fiction and time travel and goofy comic book twists and turns, but the third installment left me wondering if she made it up as she went along. If this fourth one was like the third, I was in for a long night as I was Morgan's date.

I like the basic idea of the series. Every time I see one of these movies, I can't help but think of my dad telling his stories about growing up in England in the 1950s and 1960s. He always talked of the headmaster leaning over him and crooning, "Why, Butcher?" (He had a voice that went along with that). I remember him teaching me to tie a tie and him saying he wore one of them every day to school. These movies really bring to life those memories of that kind of school and environment.

I really enjoyed myself this time. I felt the movie contained a lot more humor and heart. The romance between Hagrid and that tall giant made me giggle. And probably the easiest joke, the one that I saw coming a million miles away, about Harry's disposition to face the dragon over asking a girl to the dance, really warmed my heart. I can imagine how Morgan felt about that, or how all boys and girls around that age must feel about that time.

I also liked the rather simplistic plot this time around. The Tri-Wizard Challenge was a great angle and even though I haven't read any of these books, I knew that Voldemort would get in somehow. This movie was really dark in bits, making the light-hearted moments shine more. More movies need to do this because if the regular life is warm, loving, fun, and just plain worth living than the dark moments are even scarier.

The kick here is that the movie left me actually wanting to read the books this time. The first installment was the inevitable introduction to the world that he lived in. The other two were so-so, if you ask me. This one ended on a note that left me eagerly awaiting the next installment already. When Dumbledore the wizard leans to Harry and says, "We will have to choose between what's easy and what's right," made me feel connected to this world.

One other note was that not having read the books actually made the movie more reachable to me. I don't know what's going to happen so I let the movie unfold. I think I only had to lean over to my daughter for one or two questions that didn't seem addressed properly. That, however, is my nitpicking subtle plot developments that otherwise would have been glossed over and I would have been just fine.

This movie is the best of the franchise. I know some will say differently, but I found it the movie that made me really love the entire franchise, wanting to read the books for the first time and anticipate the next film.