The First Potter Film to Feel Like a Film

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2010)

Alfonso Cuaron picks up the reigns of the blockbuster film franchise from Chris Columbus. The result is the first Harry Potter movie to feel like a movie and have its own cinematic vision.
I haven't read any of the Potter books, and those who have claim that Azkaban isn't as faithful to the source material as the first two movies. Whatever. This movie works in a way the first two didn't, and if story is left out, the excising was done very well, because the film has a narrative drive to it that makes it immensely exciting and clear as a bell to follow. One of the film's highlights is the time travel sequence, helped in no end by Cuaron's swooping, active camera and John Williams' ticking stopwatch score.
David Thewlis and Gary Oldman are introduced in the large roles of Professor Lupin and Sirius Black, respectively, and the movie belongs to them. Emma Thompson is briefly hilarious in a couple of small scenes as Madame Trelawney the psychic.
Grade: A-