Better than the first two...

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2004)

In my opinion, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was in fact better than the first two movies. The Sorcerer Stone was not bad at all as it was putting the set for the characters. Lots of CGs, kind of a 'kid' movie with lots of "oooh" scenes like the Quidditch match or the Troll rampage.
The second movie was a big disappointment, at least for me. Almost all the same recipes from the first were used again (and I do know it's sort of a "ritual" in the Potter books, at least the first four, to start at Harry's Uncle house, then trip to Hogwarth, then something ominous happens, Harry and Ron goof around while Hermione reads, they confront the evil, they win) but bringing nothing new really. The tone was a bit darker -leading some kids to be scared, sorry guys, it seems the franchise will address its protagonist's age, which means it could get darker and darker- but nothing was done to go beyond the first movie as for the character's psychological development.
This new Harry Potter redeems the serie in my eyes, as obviously the director has chosen to not only respect the key elements of the books (Quidditch game, Hogwarth studies, opening scene at Harry's uncle, etc.) but added a lot of wonderful scenes that were lacking in the first two episodes (Fantasy'ish landscape surrounding Hogwarth, The Hyppogriph flight scene, the bus scene, the inn, the village under the snow etc.)
This is where I realized that the first two movies were so centered around Hogwarth and diagon alley, that you could have believed all the existing wizards lived in those two places. This movie definitely expands the scope of the serie, and brings the best epic finale scene yet, while having a much darker tone as well. Kudos to Daniel Radcliff also for bringing a darker side to Teen Harry Potter at the beginning of the movie. No more Oliver Twist clone ;)
I give this opus a 8/10. Good film, not just a good Harry Potter :)