Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

If you only watch one Harry Potter film - it should be this one.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban poster

The first couple Harry Potter films are fun, but never really get as good as you hope they will. Then someone had the bizarre persuading Alfonso Cuaron, who had just gotten a lot of attention for making the sexually explicit Y Tu Mama Tambien, to direct the third film. Well, it worked. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a darker, more grown up film, which is probably appropriate as the "kids" move into high school age.

The story involves a murderous wizard escaping from Azkaban (wizard jail), with his sites set on killing Harry. Hogwarts goes into full lock down mode, when Harry learns that the prisoner, one Sirius Black, is responsible for his parents death, he goes looking for trouble.

The film still follows much of the Harry Potter blueprints so far, so if you liked the previous films, you'll like this one, and if you didn't like the first two, the slightly better story here still isn't going to be enough to convert you. Still if you only see one Harry Potter film, this might be the one to watch.


The Good: 

• more great actors - this time Gary Oldman and Emma Thompson join the cast
• a seamless transition from the deceased Richard Harris to Michael Gambon as Dumbledore

The Bad:

• if magic alone weren't enough of a crutch, this one relies on time travel too 
• Rowling still has terribly cliched names for characters. There's a Mr. Lupin in this, and someone is a werewolf... I wonder who?
• At one point Snape gets blasted from a room by Harry, and then doesn't show back up for quite some time, and Harry suffers no repercussions for it

Stuff to watch for:

• Warwick Davis and Julie Christie in bit parts
• Why are all the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch already cut?
• Sadly, this was the last Harry Potter film with a John Williams score

Pairing: a cup of tea, or a large brandy

The Verdict:
**** out of *****