Overview

What happens when the next film in line for the Harry Potter series is this author’s least favorite novel of the series thus far?  Prisoner of Azkaban wound up surprising me in regards to how much I liked it and made me realize my slight dread was nothing to worry about.

(Note:  Given how long this film has been in theaters at the time of review, I will not bother hiding any spoilers pertinent to the review…you have been warned).

The Feel

Prisoner of Azkaban had a much different look and feel to the wizard world than the other two films did.  I think this is in part to the ever pedestrian Columbus migrating to the production side of the films.  While Columbus did a very good job in Sorcerer’s Stone, his efforts in Chamber of Secrets were lacking.  Alfonso Cuaron made the fantastic world of wizards seem less like the “gee whiz” effects of the prior films and gave it a much more organic feel.  There were plenty of overt effects, but there were also many less obvious effects too that seemed like they had really been there for hundreds of years.

The Plot

Let me state my biggest gripe first about the plot; I hate time travel plot devices with the heat of a thousand suns.  But insofar as my belief in this holds, Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling) did a fair enough job in regards to applying rules and using with it with causality.  The last twenty minutes (or so) of the film is entirely back in time as Harry and Hermione rush around righting wrongs and making sense of some odd events.  Also Hermione’s use of her time travel amulet does lead to some funny moments that Cauron captured brilliantly on film.  My biggest gripe is if time travel is such a dangerous thing, why on earth would McGonagal give such a device to a teenager?

Prisoner of Azkaban had a tighter script than Chamber of Secrets.  While some liberties were taken with the translation to film, it had a better plot than the previous as it did not make a footnote out of all the important events from the novel.  Cauron also did a very good job pacing the film with the use of repetitive transitions from scene to scene.

The Performers

Where Chamber of Secrets was focused on Harry and Ron, Prsioner of Azkaban is focused on Harry and Hermione.  That is not to say Ron was all but invisible, he just took a more supporting role in the plot as the film progressed.  Cauron did a very good job of directing the actors and making them very three dimensional.  The supporting castoff the adult actors was superb as always.  Professor Lupin, played by David Thewlis, was a great character and perhaps even better than the one in the novel.  If you have to have a character that is barking mad, Gary Oldman is your man.  Oldman was the perfect choice for Sirius Black and the person I was most looking forward to seeing in the film.  Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney was another fun addition to the cast.  Especially since she used to be an item with Kenneth Branaugh.  Dawn French also made a very funny Fat Lady, given her girth and comic abilities.  Lastly Michael Gambon as Dumbledore was an unexpected surprise as he did far better in the role than I anticipated.  Filling the shoes of the great Richard Harris is no easy feat.

Overall

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a good movie.  Despite my disdain for time travel plot devices I found this to be the second best film in the series thus far.  While liberties were taken with the novel, they worked nearly as well and for the most part were minor save for their quantity.  The effects and look of the film were much closer to what I imagined from reading the novels.  Lastly the acting from the cast was a major improvement from the previous film and the new additions to the cast did nothing but impress.  Prisoner of Azkaban is definitely worth seeing if your have invested yourself into Harry Potter films and novels.  It is also well worth the fifteen bucks or so for the DVD when it comes out.