Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Critic Reviews

93%

MovieWeb: 18 reviews

90%

RottenTomatoes: 231 reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

75

The first movie in the series with fear and wonder in its bones, and genuine fun, too.
Full Review » 8 years ago
A.O. Scott New York Times (Top Critic)

90

The third Harry Potter movie is the first one that actually looks and feels like a movie, rather than a staged reading with special effects.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Peter Bradshaw Guardian [UK] (Top Critic)

60

It's all rattling good fun.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Claudia Puig USA Today (Top Critic)

88

Thanks to director Alfonso Cuaron, a dazzling storyteller with a keen eye for whimsical detail, the third film in the Potter franchise is a visual delight.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Nicole Arthur Washington Post (Top Critic)

The third installment in the Harry Potter series, is everything the first two films were not: complex, frightening, nuanced.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Ann Hornaday Washington Post (Top Critic)

This is one long sit, made all the more so by a turgid story, a dour visual palette and uninspiring action.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Wesley Morris Boston Globe (Top Critic)

88

It's far less self-conscious about how to please an audience and isn't as slavishly interactive with its source material.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Michael Atkinson Village Voice (Top Critic)

A mild upkick in pacing and texture can be credited to director Alfonso Cuaron ... who avoids Chris Columbus's mastodon-like setups and knows a bit more about whipping up atmospherics.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Jami Bernard New York Daily News (Top Critic)

88

An entrancing experience for Potter fans.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Amy Biancolli Houston Chronicle (Top Critic)

84

This is a luminous movie -- luminous, imaginative and affecting. For Harry Potter, at least, the third time is the charm.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Philip Wuntch Dallas Morning News (Top Critic)

84

The film's disarming blend of freshness and darkness should please the Potter faithful and win new followers.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Michael Booth Denver Post (Top Critic)

88

Cuaron has done what few sequel caretakers ever manage, refreshing the characters and stories for a long potential run.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Peter Rainer New York Magazine (Top Critic)

The most powerfully entrancing children's film in years.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times (Top Critic)

88

The world of Harry Potter remains delightful, amusing and sophisticated.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Mark Caro Chicago Tribune (Top Critic)

88

Until now Harry Potter has been a great book character and a functional movie hero. With Cuaron leading the way, Harry has burst from the printed page to soar on-screen.
Full Review » 8 years ago
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

Like the first two movies, this is loaded with computer-generated imagery, but for the first time there's a sense of dramatic proportion balancing the spectacle and the story line.
Full Review » 2 years ago
Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer (Top Critic)

75

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban offers what neither of its predecessors, for all their wand-waving and witch-brooms, had: real magic.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Jeff Strickler Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top Critic)

75

Younger children might be put off by the darker tone of this movie, but the franchise's new direction holds promise.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Tom Long Detroit News (Top Critic)

75

Artful, fast-moving and engrossing.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Bill Muller Arizona Republic (Top Critic)

80

A tremendous achievement in production design.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Rex Reed New York Observer (Top Critic)

The silliest, as well as the most contrived -- and confusing -- of them all.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Brian Lowry Variety (Top Critic)

Much like a child going through puberty, the maturation of the Harry Potter franchise has yielded awkward growing pains for the third film in the series.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Lou Lumenick New York Post (Top Critic)

88

Harry Potter and the Wizard of Azkaban is precisely the kind of invention the franchise needed.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel (Top Critic)

100

It's hard to imagine that any Harry Potter movie will ever top the enchanted achievement of Prisoner of Azkaban.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Geoff Pevere Toronto Star (Top Critic)

80

While I confess to being almost utterly lost within the narrative within about 20 minutes, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.
Full Review » 8 years ago