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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Customer Reviews (91 - 93 of 104 Reviews)

"Where are you taking me? Not Azkaban Prison!"
The third adaptation in the critically acclaimed Harry Potter book series follows the chilling events that was the astounding "Chamber of Secrets". Upon reading the plot outline of "Prisoner of Azkaban", this will be even darker and more chilling than the "Chamber of Secrets".

It all happens during the oppressive summer of 1993, Harry and his friends return home to their families except of course, Harry's family isn't nice towards him at all but it all gets worse his Uncle Vernon's mean-spirited sister Marjorie Dursley comes for a visit to the bland Privet Drive residence and makes Harry's life even worse until one moment he loses his temper and runs away from the Dursleys and is picked up by The Knight Bus.

However, even though he has escaped from the abusive Dursley family, what he's running into later could be much worse. When at Hogwarts, he meets up with his friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley but the school is in a state of emergency when a notorious prisoner accused of betraying Harry's parents escapes from the horrible Azkaban Prison. Later on, the trio go on numerous adventures to catch the escapee and find out the truth at what really happened on the night Harry's parents along with 13 other muggles died.

There's no telling how good this movie might be with this review but all I can say is is that I am looking forward to the release of this movie to the big screen and that with a new director, it's uncertain how it will turn out but I am certain that it will be another winner in the awesome Harry Potter movie series.

Until then, see you all on June 4, 2004!!

The movie needed more
Although I liked the movie it was lacking a lot of important parts. For people who havn't read the books, it was probably real comfusing. The movie didn't really explain how lupin knew harry's father or a lot of the other teachers and a lot of the parts in the story were moved around. I have read the books and thought the movie was kind of disappointing because they left out the really good parts that would have made it more understandable. Although Cuaron had a very good imagination for the movie and made it so realistic, it was kind of hard to understand it. I would still buy this movie though.

Anorexic
There are some sensationalist reviews here that believe the hype that everything Harry Potter is great and give the movie five stars regardless (the book was definitely a 5 starrer) but this movie ain't so great I'm afraid.

Prisoner of Azkaban is my fave Harry Potter book so far (and was more than welcome after the weak Chamber of Secrets) but the translation from book to film loses 90% of JK Rowling's story.

Every single second, every frame of this film is utterly devoted to being nothing but pure exposition for a plot that has no mystery intrigue. If you have read the book then there isn't much point in seeing this as you'll already know the twist. But I didn't want this to bias my opinion so I gave it a go anyway.

As I have said, there are no subplots. Everything focuses on the Sirius Black story. Character development and mystery are non-existent. It almost feels as if Harry, Ron and Hermione are the only students at Hogwarts because no one else gets a mention and Draco Malfoy is reduced to wimpy, comic-relief. The strangest change of all is the presence of Dudley (a funny character) with NO dialogue at all.

I liked Professor Lupin in the book, he was a rebel, renegade teacher who broke the rules and was one of the best mentors Harry has ever had. In the movie he doesn't do much and the character never really comes through. Same goes for Snape (a character I am liking more and more), he barely has two lines to say. Michael Gambon as the new Dumbledore is cool and naturally authoritive but he's got nowt to do either. Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawny has five minutes of screen time and Hagrid has two scenes.

The relationship between every character and situation is very much defined in the book. In the film all of that is stripped away in order to tell the Sirius Black story as quickly as possible. Which would be fine if the Sirius Black story could make the film stand on its own. It doesn't.

Alfonso Cuaron may bring a new look to the film and a more modern edge but I blame him and Steven Kloves for the hasty rearranging and muddling of JK Rowling's story. Sure, some sacrifices had to be made in adaptation. But Prisoner of Azkaban dilutes the story to the point of obscurity.

The rumors of Goblet of Fire being released as two separate parts (ala Kill Bill) bodes well as it will offer the chance to tell a more complete story. But so far the Dursleys have been cut out and it will start with Harry already at Hogwarts.

For a much more atmospheric and exciting mystery try Young Sherlock Holmes. A film with many alarming similarities to the Harry Potter world. This movie may look good with a new director doing a fresh take on the Harry Potter universe but there are so many restrictions weighing this franchise down and it's REALLY beginning to show.

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