Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Wow! After viewing the first two years of Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts on the silver screen, I didn’t expect anything new from the third installment, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. After all, the world had had two installments of Hollywood Harry Potter—how much could possibly be changed? Apparently, a lot. The first change noticed by all fans is the changes of appearance of the stars. Besides a certain young man’s “ungelling” (which was very well received), none of it had to do with movie magic. We’re not dealing with “child” stars any longer; Harry is a teenager, so are the actors portraying Harry and his friends, which seemed to have made it easier for actor Dan Radcliffe to accurately portray Harry’s raging hormones. In the first two films, many people, including myself, accused Radcliffe of wooden acting. He wasn’t showing enough emotion—Harry is a very complicated character and even if Radcliffe doesn’t look the part, it is important that he at least be able to act the part. After viewing this film, he’s back in my good graces. His acting was phenomenal! I was finally able to accept Radcliffe as Harry in Prisoner of Azkaban. Rupert Grint as Harry’s best friend wasn’t exactly as grand as I’d hoped. Ron Weasley seemed to be cast aside in many of the scenes, only serving as the comic relief. True, Ron is a loyal friend, but I wish there had been a little bit more of him in this film. Though he didn’t get his fair share of scenes (as didn’t some other platinum-haired boy), he’s left his mark on this film with his hilarious “I don’t want to tap-dance!” dream. As always, Emma Watson delivered a perfect amount of snobby and know-it-all attitude as Hermione Granger. Her Malfoy slap turned into a punch, however, but in the film version, it helped Hermione’s new “girl power” side come out a bit more, which is what the purpose of this installment was for Hermione. Think twice before messing with a bookworm! And if his platinum locks didn’t make the viewer notice him, actor Tom Felton has finally made a bit of a breakthrough as Draco Malfoy. I’ll say it now—he’s my favorite actor New actor Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, the prisoner of Azkaban was marvelous. He looked absolutely insane—mad, even! But that’s what we were supposed to see. And once Harry had had the whole Pettigrew/betrayal business explained to him, Oldman seemed like a very caring, kind person—exactly what we’ll see in further installments of Harry Potter. And now for the disapproval. I must say this: “DIE, STRINGY MUSTACHE!!” I don’t remember ever reading Remus Lupin was supposed to have a mustache! He is supposed to look old and kindly, which he does, and he delivered his lines with ease and precision, but for some reason, I just didn’t see David Thewlis as my Lupin. Of course we all have different visions of the characters in our heads, but unlike Oldman as Sirius, Thewlis as Lupin just didn’t make the cut. Hopefully I’ll warm up to him when Lupin returns in the fifth installment. Stolen lines were an issue in this film as well, and not just with Hermione! Who on Earth was that random, nameless kid who kept answering questions? The person I’m talking about answered what a “grim” is/meant in Trelawney’s Divination class. But who was he? He got more lines than canon characters! Poor Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) only got to speak FIVE words! Very uncool in my book. By the way, Señor Cuaron, Padma and Parvati Patil are NOT both in Gryffindor house (check out their ties next time you view the film). But overall, I was very impressed by Cuaron’s directing skills. As the books get longer, the movies will get longer, but we can’t have twenty-hour films that include every single detail—I know that! If you blinked, you might’ve missed the two-minute Quidditch game, but the way Cuaron shortened everything was good in a way because mostly the important scenes were included in the film, but for anyone who hasn’t read the third book (those kind of people DO exist!), they wouldn’t know anything about the Marauder’s Map, who Prongs was, why it’s so significant that Harry’s Patronus is a stag, etc. Many important details were missing from this film, but because of awesome cinematography and brilliant acting, this film is still my favorite Harry Potter film thus far. Before this, I didn’t think Harry Potter could get any better, but look what getting a new director did… and now we’ll be receiving another new director for Goblet of Fire, Mike Newell. Will the new blood produce an even better fourth film? Only time can tell. |