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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Customer Reviews (46 - 48 of 104 Reviews)

A sad attempt
I am greatly dissapointed. The only time I would even consider recommending this movie to any one would be at a garage sale. I am a huge fan of the books and the 2 previous movies. The real essence of the books were brought to life in the "old" movies, i loved them...
The Prisoner of Azkaban movie contained the plot and the right scenes, it had a "better" womping willow, and you could see Hogwarts students in modern day muggle clothing,but thats not what I wanted to see. The soul, the magic, where was it?

The Best Yet
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is the third movie installment in JK Rowling's book series about the teenage wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). In this movie, Harry is now thirteen years old and has developed a bit of an attitude. The movie opens (again) with Harry living at his Uncle Vernon's and Aunt Petunia's. Harry's uncle's sister, Marge, is paying the family a visit. She proceeds haughtily to insult Harry and his dead parents. Harry protests that his parents were good people and proceeds to turn Aunt Marge into a balloon.

Harry's uncle of course reminds him that he cannot use magic while not at school and that he is now in big trouble. Harry professes not to care and then runs away from home. What this is supposed to show is that Harry is now becoming a young man who is more comfortable with his magic powers and who is willing to make it on his own. As with the last film, I just don't see how Harry could still be living with these awful people. You would think that the Hogwarts staff could have found someone else for Harry to live with but, that's another issue.

As everyone knows by now, this movie is far darker than the previous two. The plot is that a convicted killer named Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is presumably on his way to Hogwarts to kill Harry. It is believed that Sirius was involved in Harry's parents' death and that he is a disciple of Voldemort. He wishes to kill Harry so that Voldemort may return to power.

There is tension between Harry and the Hogwarts faculty and between he and his friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) that did not exist previously. Part of this is Harry's coming into his own and part is the simple rebelliousness that teenagers are prone to.

All in all, this is probably the best movie of the three so far. It is certainly a positive step from the last movie which did not really advance Harry very far. What "The Prisoner of Azkaban" has shown is that Harry is now more capable of handling his powers and that he just might be a little bit dangerous to those he trusts and loves. You can see the potential for much trouble for both Harry and his friends if he does not successfully come to grips with the power he possesses.

Just a note: I likely would have given this film five stars had it not been for the time travel angle. Not only did they not realistically deal with time travel in this film (as realistically anyway as you can deal with something that is a physical impossibility, even for wizards) but, this sequence just felt too much like a deus ex machina. That trick may have been fine for ancient Greek playwrights but I expect more from modern screenwriters.

Third Chapter in the Harry Potter Saga
The Prisoner of Azkaban is the continuing story of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. The films recreate the books by J.K. Rowling. In this film, Harry is being pursued by murderous Sirius Black, who has escaped from Azkaban, the terrifying prison for wizards. He is also having premonitions of a legendary black dog called "the Grim," which brings death to all who see it. Hogwart's is being guarded by menacing creatures called Dementors, black spectres who are prison guards at Azkaban.

This film has a new director, Spanish director Alonzo Cuaron, who took over from Chris Columbus. Columbus remains involved in the Potter movies as a producer. Cuaron's style is very different from Columbus. For example, the trio of Ron, Hermione, and Harry are rarely seen in their Hogwart's uniforms, but mostly in street clothes. Personally, I preferred Columbus' directing. The film also has a new Albus Dumbledore, after the passing of Richard Harris. The new Dumbledore, Michael Gambon, does an excellent job and is virtually indestinguishable from Harris' Dumbledore, which adds seamless continuity.

A new teacher for the Defense of the Dark Arts is one of the best characters in this movie and indeed in the series. Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) is a kindly father figure to Harry, helping Harry overcome his paralyzing fear of the Dementors. But Lupin has a terrible secret.

There is a werewolf in this movie. I must say I think this werewolf is the most authentic ones ever depicted on screen. A werewolf is a wretched creature doomed to a life of violence and painful transformations. Unlike the werewolf with the twelve-pack and glorious mane in Van Helsing, the werewolf in "Prisoner" is truly terrifying.

The second DVD is packed with extras that take almost as long as the movie to enjoy. There is a "Marauder's Map" that features different areas such as Hogsmeade, the Great Hall, Defense for the Dark Arts, etc. There are two games, "Catch Scabbers" and "Sir Cadugan's Quest." I could not figure out how to play the Scabber's game with just a PC keyboard. There is a conversation between Cuaron and Rowling, which shows a lot of the making of the film.

Alan Rickman continues to do a superb job as Professor Severus Snape. Snape is one of my favorite characters, and gets a fair amount of screentime here.

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