A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Date Viewed: 6/6/04

Details:

Daniel Radcliffe

Rupert Grint

Emma Watson

Gary Oldman

David Thewlis

Michael Gambon

Alan Rickman

Maggie Smith

Robbie Coltrane

Emma Thompson

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Score: +

The Review: Finally, Harry Potter as he should have been: few boring lessons, the barest sketches of an inevitably horrendous summertime at the Dursley's, minimal new characters, and a radical transformation: no hint or undertone that this is merely a re-scripted Book of Job. After an amusing scene under the covers fraught with double entendre, we jump immediately into the action and don't stop to take a breath for some time. This is what action adventure movies should be like; intellectual stimulation need not take place only in the classroom.

The third year at Hogwart's brings yet another teacher of protection against the dark arts (Professor Lupin: Thewlis), a new teacher of divination (the twit Trelawney: Thompson), finally introduces us to Sirius Black (Oldman) and ups the ante on a load of adolescent angst. Perhaps it goes without saying that the "new" Dumbledore (Gambon) isn't quite as effective as was the much loved Richard Harris, but it's not as if we had much choice; he's an adequate substitution and will probably grow into the part. The actors under Harry, Ron and Hermione have definitely grown into their parts and are emerging as major talents.

A new director (Chris Columbus has passed the baton for several episodes) has infused the Potter universe with some excitement and palpable novelty; some might complain about this, but it's certainly not boring. Notably, the geography of Hogwart's has changed, becoming more diverse and interesting, albeit differing both from previous movies and the books. However, since I recognized snippets of Highland landscape, and enjoyed the one-second puzzles associated with their identification, I certainly had no objections to this.

(17-July-04)

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