A few years ago I had never even heard of the name Harry Potter that was; at that time, a best selling series of children's books that had the younger generation reading something with the same sophistication that Roald Dahl had brought to my childhood. I first heard about it when a film was released based on the first book, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, which I had the chance to see on Cable TV and found myself enjoying a surprising amount. About a year after that the second film, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, was released and not only did I make sure to catch it in a cinema, but also found it enjoyable enough to make the books an appealing proposition. That's where my interest started but it soon grew; after reading the first 2 books, that were enjoyable but basic, I reached the third book Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban that simply blew me away. The series had reached its twilight in terms of the dark foreboding atmosphere. It was a story that opened up a bigger picture to the series, featured some moments of genuine dread (and I'm talking about for me as a 21 year old adult here) in a story that held me in a tighter grasp than almost every adult book doing the rounds. (Damn that sentence makes it sound like I read porno, but I swear I meant something else). Needless to say I have been eagerly awaiting this third film for the last year.
In his third term at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry Harry will face his most dangerous adventure yet. It starts out; as per usual, in the home of Harry's vindictive Foster parents the Dursley's. It seems that this year they are being visited by Mr. Dursley's equally vindictive sister who remains completely oblivious to the world of magic. Harry must be on his best behavior if they are to allow him to return to Hogwarts, but he finds this very difficult when Aunt Petunia starts bad mouthing his parents, and when he inevitably blows his fuse he accidentally blows her up into a balloon. Knowing that underage magic is not only against school rules, but illegal in the wizarding world, Harry decides to run away before they lock him up in the wizard prison Azkaban.
On the streets he witnesses a terrifying site; a spectral dog that is stalking him through the roadside bushes. His salvation comes in the form of a wizard bus that travels at speeds capable of crossing the country in a matter of minutes, but on board Harry reads about Sirius Black (Garry Oldman) who has become the first person to escape from Azkaban. On arriving at his destination Harry is surprised to find the Minister Of Magic is more concerned than angry. Not that he would have actually been locked up in Azkaban for blowing up his aunt, it's still a surprise that he is not punished more than a hearty pat on the back. It appears that everybody was far too concerned for Harry's safety since Sirius Black was the person who betrayed Harry's parents to the Dark Lord, and they have reason to believe that his reason for escape is to finish Harry off.
Once Harry arrives at school though he finds that his problems are only just beginning. He never got his parents to sign any release forms before he ran away so he will not be allowed on any of the school trips this year. Plus the teachers are being extra cautious with him since Sirius Black has been spotted near the school, and his Divination teacher keeps predicting his death thanks to her visions of a big spectral dog. To top it all off the ministry of magic has decreed that The Dementors will be guarding Hogwarts. The Dementors are foul undead creatures with rotting flesh and are the very reason that nobody has escaped from Azkaban; a Prison with no bars, before. They are literally fear embodied and their mere presence in a room will suck all joy out of it leaving anybody inside a defenseless wreck. They are also renowned for the fact that they will not distinguish between their prey; in this case Sirius Black, and anybody else in his area; such as a school full of children, which is never a good thing but isn't helped by the fact that because of the pain and misery in Harry's past they are making an extra special effort to get hold of him. So the scene has been set for a particularly scary adventure as Harry and his friends must, once again, uncover the mystery behind these events.
Director Alfonso Cuarón actually does fairly well with the material at hand. I mean this is not the book, it's not even close to being as good as the book because it's not nearly as dark. In the book Sirius Black's presence was felt all the time, whereas in the film he doesn't really feel like anything more than a face on a poster until toward the end. It's the same with the Dementors though; they were in fact the very reason that the book had scenes that caused those feelings of dread, but unfortunately no on screen CGI will ever top the horrors of the human imagination and so they went from the disturbingly horrific to the just plain creepy.
Still a film based on a book will rarely be able to compete with the source material and this remains one of the better conversions. The books are getting consistently longer and so the scene for scene structure of the first films can not continue. Cuarón manages to cut a fair amount from the book and yet somehow manages to flesh out the characters and find time to show every one of the films many twists and turns without anything feeling like it came out of the blue.
He actually manages the action scenes with far more flair than Columbus did too. I actually liked the first 2 films but the fact remains that the effects in the original were severely sub par, and the action scenes in the second were choreographed like something out of Star Wars. In Prisoner Of Azkaban the effects team have managed to recreate the varied creatures from the book; from the griffin like Hypogriph to the terrifying Dementors, with a realism that draws you into the film. He then goes on to make use of these effects in a series of action sequences that are intense and well handed. I can't really go into any real detail about the action scenes without spoiling some fun revaluations, but needless to say Cuarón has done nothing similar to turning a Quditch match into a recreation of the trench attack on the Death Star.
Of course being a Harry Potter film fans will want to know just how exactly the actors do at bringing their characters to the screen. As usual I'd have to say that I was pleased. Harry, Ron and Hermeone we've all seen before and they continue to do good things as the characters mature and the actors begin to emote determined heroics that now fit the characters comfortably. David Thewlis enters the story here as the students latest defense against the dark arts teacher Professor Lupin. Again he acquitted himself nicely to the role, not really cheesing anything up as I expected but rather added a sense of dignity to the complex character that has always been one of my favorites.
My favorite character could only be Sirius Black though. Thankfully Gary Oldman has more than done the role justice. Not exactly what I was expecting from him I was pleasantly surprised by his gloriously over the top portrayal of a man driven crazy by years locked in a place with no joy. The over excitable way that he delivered his lines was matched only by his superior mannerisms in becoming the most perfect casting choice since this series began. I was a little disappointed by Michael Gambon as headmaster Dumbledore though. He was given all of 10 minutes of screen time, but his rough voice lacked the sincere compassion that the late great Richard Harris had given the role.
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More Theatrical Reviews
"In a summer of overwrought special effects films, Harry Potter offers just the right balance for children and grown-ups who've forgotten what being a child is like." ByBlake Snyder
"Overall, Azkaban succeeds in being both suspenseful and cheerful, dark yet wonderfully bright – a delightful film – the best book in the series and, for the moment, the best film in the lot." ByChristopher Monfette
ByB. Alan Orange (cameo by Imperial Mantooth) ( Warning: Agent Orange's review's are rated R ) "It’s great. I guess. I don’t know. I didn’t see the (word that makes Webmaster B.’s eyes cross even when it’s spelled with asterisks; it starts with the letter F, ending in u-c-k-i-n-g) thing."
"Potter looks older, Dumbledore looks younger...well, he is younger, technically, and while this is visually beautiful and a fairly entertaining movie, it doesn't quite conjur the same magic as the first two movies." ByBrian Gallagher
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