PRISONER OF AZKABAN : Stylistically Superior, Though The Storyline Underwhelms

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2006)

HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
The third installment of the Harry Potter franchise represented a re-birth of sorts for the series b/c new creative blood was brought in. Alfonso Cuaron took over the director's chair from Christopher Columbus... resulting in the first Harry Potter "film", as opposed to the Harry Potter "movies" we'd seen already.
With the new vision of Cuaron, the movie feels more magical and real. Columbus' films seemed to always pull back and capture Hogwarts on a grand, blockbuster scale. Any moment that called for special effects or some sort of magic, Christopher Columbus seems to fall to the predictable conclusion of tacking on special effects. In this film however, Cuaron finds a way to capture some of Hogwart's magic on a very personal, simplistic scale... and as a result it resonates in a much stronger way. For example, when a character turns into a werewolf at the very end (a scene that Colubmus would have filmed from a distance capturing the special effects) chooses to zoom in on the eye and have the transformation start there. It's a simple choice... however it is that kind of bold decision making that Columbus lacked in the first 2 films.
PRISONER OF AZKABAN tells the story of Harry's 3rd year at Hogwarts. When he arrives he discovers that Sirius Black, the man who killed his parents, is the first person to ever escape from Azkaban prison... and he is now out to kill Harry Potter. Do to the danger, Hogwarts is protected by Azkaban's guards... the Dementors... and the staff is on high alert. However, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermoine can not help but investigate the story behind Sirius Black and what they find isn't what the expected.
As I've said already, the main strengths of this film lie in the direction of Alfonso Cuaron. Also enjoyable is the addition of David Thewlis and Gary Oldman as Prof. Lupin and Sirius Black. Their camaraderie especially in the final moments of the film is very compelling.
Despite the film's superior direction, it still lags at points in the middle. This section spends a lot of time giving the younger actors and their characters more depth... exploring the tension Harry feels towards his parents' murdered, exploring Hermoine's situation as a Muggle. What hurts this section so much is that the young actors just don't deliver. While the performances were merely aspects of the spectacle in the earlier films... here, thanks to Cuaron's more introspective eye, the performances become more vital. Unfortunately, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry and Emma Watson as Hermoine don't seem quite ready to play the scenes as naturally and realistically as they should be.
Also, the storyline of PRISONER OF AZKABAN doesn't feel as complete as the earlier two films. AZKABAN works much better then the other two in terms of developing character and getting the ball rolling for more compelling films later in the series... however as a film it doesn't stand on it's own quite as well as the others.
Despite that fact, HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN is still a highly entertaining film. And once the action really gets rolling near the films climax it get really good. In the end, thanks to Cuaron, AZKABAN is a great improvement stylistically over the other films and a great transition into the next films.
... B+ ...