Great stuff !

Rating: 8/10 (10 September 2005)

While the first two Harry Potter movies were fun and entertaining The Prisonner of Azkaban gives you something more substantial. Watching the movie really gives you the feeling of being immersed in the magical world created by J.K.Rowling. I've read the book a couple of years ago and it was a true pleasure to see the people, monsters and artifacts of Hogwarts (all of which I had already almost forgot).
The script of The Prisoner of Azkaban is tight and does a good job of bringing together the best elements of the novel. Sure the director has taken a few liberties ( notably with the dialogs ) but unless you are a Potter maniac chances are it won't bother you. As a result the movie is well balanced ( this time, thankfully, we don't have to go through an over-long Quidditch match...). The rhythm of the movie is flawless : after a long enough first part which lets you appreciate the depth of Rowling's imagination, the action gets rolling and don't let go. The special effects are mostly of great quality, my favorite being the talking paintings and the Marauder's map. The animation in the sequence where Hermione gets molested by a tree is way too blurry, though.
A weakness of the movie, in my opinion, is that the Harry Potter character, seems a bit flat. With all the wonders around him I didn't care much what happened to him. Maybe it's also got to do with the somewhat flat acting of Radcliff. And the girl playing Hermione gives a poor performance : the only time I liked her acting was when she was running.. But Ron is great so it evens out !
So The Prisoner of Azkaban is a great adventure movie in the same way Indiana Jones 2 and The Goonies were more than a decade ago (Ah those glorious movies of my youth !). They are thrilling and exotic teen movies and that's a nice combination. When the 7 Potter movies are complete I'm sure the third one will stand out. 8/10.