Directed by:
Alfonso CuarónScreenplay:
Steve KlovesCinematography:
Michael SeresinComposer:
John WilliamsCast:
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Pam Ferris, Emma Thompson, Tom Felton, Geraldine Somerville, Lenny Henry, Matthew Lewis, James Phelps (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry, Ron and Hermione, now teenagers, return for their third year at Hogwarts, where they are forced to face escaped prisoner, Sirius Black, who poses a great threat to Harry. Harry and his friends spend their third year learning how to handle a half-horse half-eagle Hippogriff, repel shape-shifting Boggarts and master the art of Divination. They also visit the wizarding village of Hogsmeade and the Shrieking Shack, which is considered the most haunted building in Britain. In addition to these new experiences, Harry must overcome the threats of the soul-sucking Dementors, outsmart a dangerous werewolf and finally deal with the truth about Sirius Black and his relationship to Harry and his parents. With his best friends, Harry masters advanced magic, crosses the barriers of time and changes the course of more than one life. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
I read in many comments that only now, thanks to the change in director, Harry Potter has got the true Potter atmosphere, that it has finally gone dark, and so on. Well, I think those are pretty misleading statements. After all, how could the previous two films have the atmosphere of Prisoner of Azkaban when they (like their predecessors) had basically nothing going in them that would require it? So in terms of atmosphere, I wouldn't say it's that much to Alfonso Cuarón's credit - he was just lucky to get this part. What is already to his merit, of course, is the film's thrilling pace, the omnipresent playfulness (the scene with the boogeyman, when the camera flies back and forth through the mirror, for example), the suspenseful, even horror scenes with the dementors, and the sensitive direction of the actors, whose heroes start to get beaten up by adolescence, but we don't stop liking them even for a moment. And then, of course, there are the new characters. Both Gary Oldman and David Thewlis are a joy to watch, and when they are joined by Alan Rickman in the Shrieking Shack, the film's best scene is taken care of. Finally, I'd like to mention John Williams' score - Prisoner of Azkaban is the last installment of the series for which he composed it, and he did an absolutely wonderful job.
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In the third Harry Potter film, Alfonso Cuarón shed the fairytale guise and served us a pretty grim and audiovisually perfect piece of filmmaking, which proudly stands at the top of the entire wizarding series. Compared to the previous two instalments, The Prisoner of Azkaban has seen a number of innovations (the look of Hogwarts and the grounds, the entrance to Gryffindor, etc), none of which have harmed the film in any significant way. The fencing match was handled wonderfully, the dementors were truly terrifying, and the appearance of the werewolf was the icing on the cake for me. The final third of the film is as good as it could have been, and the best (and least logical) scene was the one with the willow beater. The music, cinematography and visual effects were once again good. Three is a lucky number, and that is also true for Harry Potter.
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"Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?" –– Even though I am watching the third installment in the Potter franchise for at least the twentieth time, I still cannot get over the Cuaron exaltation. Rather, I would say he was just lucky to have one of the best books in the franchise, which had the potential to appeal to the widest possible audience. I am not entirely satisfied with the result, though. For one thing, the credit goes to Mr. Dumbass Kloves, whose typical screenwriting trademarks – his classic "catchphrases", weird sense of humor (the cleaning lady scene - I still have not figured out what the hell that was supposed to be about!) and the insensitive reduction of the book, have of course taken their toll (The absolute bare minimum of information about Harry's parents' past is given, and nowhere is it explained that it was actually Lupin, Harry's father and co. who were the people who created the Marauder’s Map!). Plus, then the other thing I am not entirely happy with is the director himself. What disappointed me was the occasional absence of emotion. Some of the scenes that should have been really atmospheric in some way – Harry’s flight on Buckbeak, the meeting in the Shrieking Shack, or Lupin's transformation left me cold as ice, they felt devoid of emotion, and often even laughable. I do not know how much of this is the fault of the director, the cast, or possibly the special effects people, but I did not expect to be so bored in some places. However, now for the good points: there is a great soundtrack by John Williams, Radcliffe finally got a little better at acting (although the "I'll kill him!" scene still looks ridiculous), there are nice exteriors and, except for Buckbeak and the who looked very digital, very nice special effects. The Dementors are okay, the atmosphere is passable, too, and while it seems like I was really critical previously and did not like the movie, I was not - I actually did like it. I just do not get the general hype around this installment. I could understand it with the fifth installment, but definitely not with this one.
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I will repeat myself again, I know that as an ordinary Muggle I have no say in this, but fire Radcliffe for God's sake! Although there are slight signs of improvement, he is still very weak and unconvincing especially in details, for example his acting while crying is a tragedy in itself. Moreover, his awful acting stands out in comparison with, say, the talented Emma Watson. But now to the better bits. I'm not going to join the rest with the notorious opinion of what a loser Columbus is (I wouldn't see him as that bad, just an honest craftsman) and how Cuarón, on the other hand, is amazing; they are just two different concepts. Cuarón strikes a darker chord (also thanks to an increasingly dense source material?), the dementors bring a needed light touch of horror and some scenes can give little kids a case of the creeps (keep it up). The Whomping Willow is awesome, Michael Gambon is an excellent replacement for Richard Harris, the visual effects are fine, the werewolf is sad. That’s it. Well, there’s something else. My desire for the Nimbus 2000 has passed, now I'm lusting after a hypogryph, model Klofan.
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Harry Potter has always been a bit of a light rip-off of Peter Jackson's opus. It cleverly borrows various details, not very conspicuously, but I’ve found several very similar scenes or specific things in all three parts. In the third part, it is clearly the Dementors, who annoyingly resemble the breathtakingly executed Nazgûl. However, the truth is that this part is the darkest and least childish in the whole series. For the first time, there are horror elements, which will probably escalate further in later parts. It's not significantly better than the previous two parts, maybe just a little bit.
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