The latest installment of the Harry Potter films has earned itself a more mature rating than its predecessors.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" earned a Motion Picture Association of America PG-13 rating "for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images," which means that parents are strongly cautioned and that some material might be inappropriate for children younger than 13. The first three "Harry Potter" movies were rated PG.
Evil forces gain strength in the "Goblet of Fire," and one of the characters is killed. Death Eaters — depicted by dark-hooded, skull-faced individuals — start to create problems for some wizards, and Lord Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes, makes his first film appearance.
But none of that is news to the people who have read the books, and most parents don't seem to be too flustered by the higher ratings.
The PG-13 rating won't stop Diana Leither, of Richmond, Minn., from taking her 9- and 10-year-old girls to the movie, but she is going to treat them to a matinee instead of an evening showing.
Leither said her youngest daughter was scared "a little, but not overly so" by the other movies.
McKenzie Eisenschenk has read all of the Harry Potter books and seen all the Harry Potter movies, and the 11-year-old from Sauk Rapids, Minn., says she's never been very scared by them.
"I think they're really good," she says of the first three movies.
Eisenschenk's mom, Jessie, says she'll probably take her daughter to "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" even if it's rated PG-13.
But first she'll read about the movie to see why it's been rated PG-13.
She has let her daughter see other PG-13 movies — like "War of the Worlds" or "Star Wars Episode III" — but only after watching them herself to make sure they were appropriate. With "Harry Potter," Eisenschenk doesn't think there will be any surprises.
"She's read the books," Eisenschenk says. "She pretty much knows what happens."
E-mail: lkohman@stcloudtimes.com