Movie Review: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

JK Rowling - Author
Alphonso Cauron - Director
Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter
Rupert Grint - Ron Weasley
Emma Watson - Hermione Granger
Micheal Gambon - Albus Dumbledore
Maggie Smith - Minerva McGonagall
Alan Rickman - Severus Snape
Gary Oldman - Sirius Black
David Thewlis - Professor Lupin
Tom Felton - Draco Malfoy
Emma Thompson - Sybil Trelawney
Robbie Coltrane - Rubeus Hagrid

A confrontation at the Shrieking Shack in Prisoner of Azkaban

Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film in the 7 movie Harry Potter series, finds itself under the guidance of a new director who has a couple of unavoidable problems on his hands: Death and puberty. Richard Harris, who played Albus Dumbledore in the first two films, passed on this past year. Whenever someone is asked to play a role that another actor has already played, it is difficult and unfair for the both the replacement and the audience (Jodie Foster being replaced by Julianne Moore in Hannibal comes to mind.) Surely everyone who watched Azkaban was taken out of the film experience at least for a moment, long enough to think "Wait...that's not Dumbledore." While Michael Gambon is an adequate replacement, Richard Harris brought both grace and power to the role; Harris' Dumbledore was as he should be: kind and gentle, but also able to command the attention of an entire room without raising his voice. Regardless, Gambon does a fine job and, to his credit, he plays the character in his own way rather than trying to mimic Harris.

The other problem lies in the aging of the 3 main characters. The actors who play Harry, Ron and Hermione are 15, 16 and 14. Between the last film and this one, the characters have suddenly sprouted and sound markedly older. This, like seeing a new Dumbledore, simply takes time to adjust to. These problems were unavoidable and the film is still enjoyable despite these and other drawbacks. For me, reading the book first lessened my enjoyment of the film. As is the case with many conversions from book to film, much is left out. For example, the origins of the Marauder's Map is absent as is the appearance of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Included also, are some things that were not in the book. The children in the Great Hall singing "Something Wicked this way Comes" was a nice touch. The other additions, such as the annoying Jamaican shrunken head on the Knight Bus, and appearance of budding romantic feelings between Ron and Hermione are wholly unnecessary and ridiculous. Also gone is the mysticism of Hogwart's. In past films the school seemed full of mystery and secrets. In Prisoner of Azkaban, the students are in muggle clothes much of the time and Hogwart's feels more like a standard private school than a school for witchcraft and wizardry.

Harry repels a swarm of dementors with a Patronus spell.

If this has made it sound like I disliked the film, that isn't the case. Becoming a fan of the books has made me much more critical of the films. I did enjoy this film overall. The scenes with the boggart and the scene where Harry encounters Snape in the middle of the night were especially well done, as were the dementors themselves. The acting was also very good. Newcomers to the series Gary Oldman and David Thewlis are especially good as Sirius Black and Professor Lupin. Alan Rickman, as he has in the previous movies, embodies Severus Snape exquisitely. I only wish Oldman and Rickman had more screentime. This is a fine film and any Potter fan will enjoy it. Here's hoping that Snape, Black and McGonagall get more screentime next year when Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire comes out.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban earns 3 Snapes out of 4.