Magical in an amazingly dark way

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2004)

I am a big fan of the Harry Potter books and have read all that have been released so far. However, the last two movies, I have utterly despised because in my opinion they did not capture the real magic of Harry Potter. Instead they were filled with what I like to call "false innocence". Chris Columbus made them too childish for my liking, and I seriously thought Daniel Radcliffe was BAD.
However, the third movie I was looking quite forward to, having heard that a different man was directing it, and upon seeing the trailer alone I felt it would be a great movie. Indeed it was.
Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite book out of all Harry Potter books so far, and Alfonso Cuaron did not disappoint me.
Acting/Characters: I have to say everyone's acting seems to have improved... Finally! Daniel Radcliffe was ten times better here, though I still have a couple of criticisms for him. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson just brought Ron and Hermione to life for me. :) And I loved Professor Trelawney; she was exactly like I pictured her. However, I don't know what to say about Draco Malfoy. :/ Tom Felton did a good job, but they turned him into a coward! Not the Malfoy I knew in the book! And at first I didn't recognize Neville because of his... err... eyebrows. And I wanted more Snape and Gonagall!!!!! :O
I was a bit iffy about how they made Sirius and Lupin look... Not exactly how I pictured them, but I eventually came to accept and love them at the end. :) As for Dumbledore, wow, I was shocked at how different he is! I loved Richard Harris's Dumbledore more, though Gambon's seemed to fit this film better. Oh yeah, and Peter Pettigrew seemed to... rat-like? But otherwise, acting was spot-on.
Story/Changes: I was shocked to see how... Different Hogwarts was! And the Dursleys' house changed too. But I like the changes. I was also glad that there were some slight changes from the book. Though, I feel they should have expanded on the friendship of James/Lupin/Sirius/Peter. And there was just a splash of the Ron-Hermione argument. It seemed like there was no point in putting in Crookshanks. They also didn't explain a lot of stuff about Sirius, like how he escaped, etc., which may confuse others. And I didn't know dementors could fly, or if they can literally FREEZE stuff. Hmm...
CGI: Awesome!!! Buckbeak was downright lovable! I think he needed more feathers, though... And Lupin's werewolf was more man than wolf. But otherwise, definite improvement from the second one (Fawkes: u-g-l-y) Still prefer LOTR's though (Sorry about the comparison!!!)
In general: Just plain awesome. I enjoyed this one. Had to be longer though! But anyway, cool. Now I wonder how Goblet of Fire'll turn out...?