Disgracing a Noble Series

Rating: 1/10 (5 June 2004)

Harry Potter, the new rage of the century and turning new generations onto reading. Recently this beloved books have been transformed into motion pictures. Other than simple nitpicks the first films, depicting the first two novels in the series were tolerable. They are outlines of the plot and it is understandable why many things were cut and changed so as not to make a PG movie three hours long. Yesterday the new film reflecting the events of the third novel in the series was released and I must say that reviews from the Times to Newsweek are praising it, so it must be better than the satisfactory first two. This assumption is terribly wrong. The turning point of the series the Prisoner of Azkaban is, however unlikely, worse than its sister films. Somewhere at sometime they must've tossed the book out the window and started from scratch. Critical events to the plot were butchered and glazed over and some key points that are important in the future Harry Potter books are not even mentioned. The film went far too fast paced to give the viewer the same satisfaction given when reading the book itself. If you are planning on enjoying this film then I recommend not being a fan of the books or having read them at all. The only ones people who could sit down and watch this film without being purely disappointed are those who have never read the books and aren't planning on it soon. I must say this is absolutely the worst movie adaption and I plan on never seeing this movie ever again, for it has ruined one of the best books in the series. I can only pray that the same writing staff is not hired for the future movies, especially the Order of the Phoenix (e-mail me if you wish me to elaborate or discuss the subject)