Beautiful--absolutely breathtaking adaptation.

Rating: 10/10 (18 August 2012)

I might be the only one who thinks this, but in all honesty I think this is one of the best directed movies of all time. Alfonso Cuarón changed the Harry Potter series forever with his stunning, mature, and rather dark vision of Prisoner of Azkaban. Some of his shots are beautiful, especially when he zooms in and out through the clock tower when the go back in time. He is and extremely creative director and although he only did one Harry Potter movie, he has forever left his mark on the series.
The acting from the young trio is also much improved--they seem more comfortable as students in their magical world, and definitely more comfortable as friends. They are growing up and dealing with many new issues and emotions, such as stress, despair, and anger, but also friendship and love. It is really amazing to just watch the entire young cast interact with each other in such a realistic way.
The supporting cast is also great, especially the new additions of David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, who tries to be kind and helpful despite his inner torment, and Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, who, as usual, was flawless in his insane interpretation. Something must also be said for Michael Gamban, who replaced the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and seems to have added a level of seriousness and maturity that goes along with the kids' growing up. Everyone else does a fine job too, but some more that stood out were Robbie Coltrane, Timothy Spall, and Fiona Shaw.
However, I cannot say enough about the new vision this gives to the Harry Potter series. Even the landscape has changed to one that's much more wild and untamed, and the use of lighting made the entire film more grey. The costumes, too, are less childish, as the actors in a way got to dress themselves, and it definitely shows. This movie is really fantastic--there's just something about the story that gets to you. It's so imaginative, and really in the end the only enemy is fear itself. Nothing is necessarily defeated, just overcome, yet it is all the satisfying because of this.