Best Potter Movie yet

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2005)

With an entirely different director, followed by a different style, the third installment of the Harry Potter series had people questioning whether or not this film would be as entertaining and refreshing as its predecessors. As for me, it not only was entertaining, but seemed better and more adult than its predecessors.
When comparing such a movie to its original novel, it's hard to say how along the lines this particular movie followed. With several crucial missing parts, it left faithful Potter fans to throw their popcorn cartons to the screen, and babbling about Cuaron's terrible job on the movie. I, having read the series, do agree that the film could have done well and made more sense with what had been cut. However, most forget to think of this movie as a movie alone--with no thought of the novel from which it was derived. Instead of comparing it to its novel twin, comparing it with its predecessors would be more accurate.
As the series progresses, the stories, therefore the movies, get better, as well as the acting abilities. As the stories continue to get darker, the characters continue to mature. Radcliffe's performance, unfortunately, was a bit of a disappointment. Having improved since "Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone", his performance was still less than expected for the third installment and for the character he plays. He is Harry Potter, after all.
Watson continues to improve, and she does not disappoint in her performance as Hermione Granger. She has grown to be one of the finest and most respectable teenage actresses for this generation. Grint has a natural talent for being Ron Weasley. It was almost as if he were born to play the part. He IS Ron. His performance was one of the most entertaining in the entire film. Comic relief is an important part in films which consist mainly of darker matters, which is what Ron brings to the film.
The style in which this movie was set--more casual and laid back--was really appealing. It was refreshing to see that Hogwarts students aren't always in uniform, and everything is really comforting. This was by far the best way I have seen a Harry Potter film. Cuaron should have directed all three films. His style of directing was really riveting.
Thus, I give Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban a 9/10 rating. Fantabulous.