Magnificent magic!

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2004)

I saw this movie yesterday and it was exactly as good as I was hoping it to be! I love Harry Potter's story and Azkaban is my favourite of the books - and Cuaron really made the story a magical experience.
Chris Columbus made a good work with Potters 1 and 2, but the movies were more children's fairy tales. Cuaron really cathces the dark mood of the third book and brings all magic to life without using fancy "wizardy" clothes - he puts the magic in the persons and the world.
The new Hogwarts is placed in a beautiful location - I truly loved the gothic style buildings and the way the camera was used behind and around the beautiful objects.
The CG in the animagi was brilliant. Nothing too fancy, but more realistic and especially creepy and disturbing, like the book is.
The young actors have really grown during the time, just like their characters. They have also grown as actors and were much more comfortable in front of the camera this time. I also liked the new Dumbledore: Gambon actually made this character somehow stronger, like he is in the book, as Harris always seemed so fragile... Gary Oldman was awesome as Sirius Black - everything I was hoping for my favourite character!
There were of course changes from the original story, but most of those did not really matter. The book and the movie are after all different media. I was hoping more clarification about the Marauder's Map, as well as Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs.
Despite the small flaws this was a magnificent experience!
I give it a full 10 points :)