The screenplay writer's one-page summary...

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2006)

It has been said that the new director, Alfonso Cuaron asked the young stars to go away and write an essay on their characters. Emma Watson came back with a 16-page(!) essay on Hermione, Daniel Radcliffe, a 1-page summary on Harry and Rupert Grint didn't even bother handing his in. The point of mentioning this? Well, the film feels as though Cuaron had also asked the screenplay writer to do the same thing with the book and this film is his 1-page summary.
Firstly, I need to point out that I have not yet finished reading Prisoner of Azkaban  I'm only half-way through it, but from what I have managed to read, around 80% of it has been omitted from the film. With that in mind, I will try not draw too many comparisons between the two, but will try to focus mainly on the film itself.
The locations are atmospheric although changes to the layout of Hogwarts seem to confuse rather than enhance the viewing experience. Daniel, Emma and Rupert seem completely comfortable in their roles as Harry, Hermione and Ron, and once again are backed by an extremely talented cast comprising of regulars, Robbie Coltraine (Hagrid), Alan Rickman (Snape), Maggie Smith (McGonagall), Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon) and Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia), as well as newcomers to the series Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) and one I probably should've easily recognised were it not for those thick glasses, Emma Thompson (Professor Trelawney). Contrary to what a few commentators have said, Michael Gambon made a fine Dumbledore given the circumstances.
Sadly, despite the strong cast, the screenplay is somewhat weak. The film seems to jump back and forth to events with no consistency (Quidditch, for instance was a major event in the book this time around because it was to be Oliver Wood's last attempt to take the Gryffindor team to the top before he left Hogwarts for good, but it's just about squeezed in with little purpose in the film, except to show Harry coming face to face with the Dementors again); Lupin is asked if he's been taking his potion before turning into a werewolf (this would make no sense to viewers of the film as there were no other references to the potion), and the time-travel sequence at the end of the film feels more complicated and pointless than it needed to be. Characters that played an important role in the previous film (i.e. Ginny) are reduced to just brief appearances and often without saying anything at all, and entire events once again find themselves left on the cutting room floor. Also, there are moments that just seem to drag on, for no reason at all.
Perhaps the most immediate thing any follower of the Harry Potter series will have noticed is how dark this film is. Harry, although more mature is a lot more confrontational and rebellious; the Dementors really can send a shiver down your spine at times; Buckbeak's execution, Trelawney's spirit possession and immediately near the start of the film, the presence of the dark and mysterious Grim who Harry sees immediately before the Knight Bus turns up adds to a film that tries to portray a sense of growing maturity and the realisation that the wider world really is full of danger. It's no Batman Begins, but the darkness the film portrays is a pretty welcome direction that drags the viewer from the safer and more pleasant worlds of the previous two films.
It's the whole coming of age theme that Cuaron had probably pushed most though the growing maturity of the three main characters. Harry, as we already know is a lot more confrontational. Hermione, too exhibits moments where she can certainly defend herself from the likes of Draco Malfoy (with a painful reminder he won't forget in a hurry!), and Ron finally becomes less of a sidekick and more of an equal in the "team". There are moments where it seems that Ron and Hermione actually find themselves being attracted to each other, but Ron's awkward approach to these things tend to be comical and work to good effect.
Having said that, some of the humour that we would expect to find in a Harry Potter film just isn't there. Without doubt, much of the dialogue has been re-written for the film, and some of the in-jokes lost along the way. Some of the jokes that remained had no meaning because the corresponding event or conversation had been omitted earlier on in the screenplay.
It's difficult to say how future films will turn out. It would be a bold statement to say that Prisoner of Azkaban marks the point where the films and books go their separate ways because I have not finished reading Prisoner of Azkaban, nor have I seen Goblet of Fire, but certainly reading around IMDb, it would appear that this was becoming the case.
Considering how much has been stripped out of the first half of the book (against the first 20 minutes of the film it seems), it would probably be a safe bet that fans of the books will continue to be disappointed with the big screen offerings, whilst newcomers to the Harry Potter films will continue to be mesmerised.
Sadly, Prisoner of Azkaban has probably been the weakest Harry Potter film offering so far. Not because of the performances given by the cast, and not because of the special effects and atmospheric setting that are used to good effect, but simply because the screenplay omits too much.