sparke61's Full Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I'm an avid Harry Potter fan, I admit. So is my SO. I've read all the books many, many times and seen (and own) both of the previous films on DVD. I had mixed feelings about the first two HP films but over all really enjoyed them and was anxiously anticipating seeing Prisoner of Azkaban. Alyssa and I made a date of with popcorn, soda, candy and a matinee. I spent almost $20 for an afternoon show.
Talk about a waste of money.
Where to start? First of all, I did not realize that Chris Columbus didn't direct POA like he did the first two films, so the extremely unfamiliar tone of the film took me by surprise. Actor Alfonso Cuarón departed radically from the style of the first two films. Every set was changed around to be almost totally unfamiliar, familiar characters had changed drastically as well and the story was jumbled and hard to follow--even for someone like me who has read the book upwards of fifteen times.
I'm one of those folks who often says "I haven't seen the movie yet but I read the book." I do enjoy seeing how accurately a film reflects the novel and I fully understand how difficult it is to adapt a long novel into a film that folks can sit through comfortably. I have to say that this film was one of the worst adaptations I have ever seen. The characters were incredibly out of balance--we barely see the Dursleys at all and what little we do see is painful to watch (Richard Griffiths, the actor who plays Uncle Vernon, either appears to be drunk or the recent victim of a stroke)--and the film was almost exclusively focused on Harry and Hermione. Ron and Harry's friendship was almost completely ignored. Important plot developments, such as why Peter Pettigrew would kill two of his best friends and frame Sirius, are skipped over in favor of dragging out Harry looking morose, Harry looking glum, Harry looking apprehensive, and so on. I understand that the hero of the film is supposed to be Harry Potter, but the sheer amount of time spent only on Harry is overkill.
Hagrid was under-featured, Professer Snape seemed forgotten except for his appearance as the boggart, one scene in class that made no sense and at the end of the film. Professor McGonagall was reduced to the part of a babbling gossip instead of the stern (but fair and very likeable) professor and head of Griffindor House.
I was intensely disappointed in the performance of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. He did look the part, but while his appearance closely matched that of the late Richard Harris, his acting did not. I was not expecting a carbon copy but the magical (forgive the pun) dignity that Harris's Dumbledore brought to the screen was replaced by bumbling ineptitude. Harris's Dumbledore may have appeared to be a bit absent-minded but one could sense that it was affected and underneath was a shrewd and sharp wizard but Gambon appeared to be truly dazed with a few moments of clarity here and there.
I agree with those who claim that Chris Columbus may have made the first two films too cutesy and canned but this drastic slide into dark and gloomy was just too much. What made Columbus's first two efforts work for me was his ability to balance the dark and the whimsical. With Alfonso Cuarón's turn at the helm I was left feeling frustrated and unfulfilled and confused. There was no magic to this film--not really even as part of the story.
The few positive aspects of the film were the performances by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (what little we saw). All three actors are growing into their roles splendidly.
All in all, I feel like the director totally missed the boat in this film. He and the screenwriter spent far too much time on the insignificant and not nearly enough (sometimes that meant not any) on the aspects that made Rowling's novel so enthralling. I say if you must see it, wait for it to come out on video.
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