not the best, but the most well done all around

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2006)

Where it's sequels and prequels lack, 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' is better. Unfortunately, it doesn't match up to 'Chamber's' excellent suspense and story, and the action is nowhere near 'Goblet'. But what you do have is a well rounded and fun flick for the whole family. Filled with a stellar cast and a great coming of age story, Harry Potter 3 is a real winner.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe has certainly grown) is now 13 years old, and preparing for his third year at Hogwarts with Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). After a weird series of events, Harry finds out that a serial murderer and former Voldemort supporter, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), is out of the wizard prison Azkaban and has his eye set on his next target: Harry.
The cast is excellent, but the first notable change is the fact that Dumbledore is new. Richard Harris passed away around the same time that HP2 came out in theaters, so Michael Gambon has taken over the role. He is simply adequate, because he lacks the fatherly affection that Harris had perfected in the 2 movies previously. The trio has certainly grown up, both physically and in terms of skill. As usual, the best is Rupert Grint's Ron, who is terribly adapted here. Most of Ron's lines in the book are said by Hermione, which is not fair to Rupert. Emma Watson is nice as Hermione, and her character has more mystery to her this year, more than ever. You'll like Hermione, but not as much as the boys. Dan Radcliffe is good as Harry, and this is definitely his best film playing the boy who lived. His only bad scene is the emotional scene, but he was only 14 when he made this, so I can let it slide. He gives us what we've been looking for in Harry: a hero. Harry is a hero in this film, no doubt about it. The rest of the cast is perfect. The new Defense teacher, Remus Lupin, is one of my favorite characters in the books, and I must say that David Thewlis nails the part very well. I love him as Lupin, the friend to Harry's father, and the calm and intelligent teacher. Alan Rickman is wonderful as Snape as usual, providing that mystery that makes his character so intriguing. The last cast member I'll review is Gary Oldman's Sirius Black. I can't do too much without ruining the plot, so I'll just say that Gary does typical Gary things here, which is great.
The film's direction is its strongpoint, as Alfonso Cuaron directs it much better than Columbus or Newell did in the other films. He totally reverses what we're used to in the Potter world, and makes the characters like they should be: teens who don't care about uniforms. Good music and costuming as well make this an enjoyable watch. Steve Kloves...well...he's not that good of an adapter, but I have to say that this is his second best job to date, as his best would be Sorcerer's Stone. Overall, the animation is good, the music and costumes are good, the writing is above average, the acting is superb, and the direction is superb. Harry Potter 3 is a great threequel that does a good job of helping Harry grow up.
8/10 --spy