A HUGE Disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (3 December 2004)

I love the Harry Potter books, and I was thrilled with the first two movies. Except for Fawkes, who looks like a musclebound chicken, I thought that the producers had done an amazing job of bringing JK Rowling's vision to the screen. I
eagerly awaited the Prisoner of Azkaban, missed seeing it in the theaters, and finally saw it at home. The best thing I can say about it is that I didn't waste my time and money at the theater. The look of the movie was dark and dreary,
which was bad enough, but the children were not in their robes, which was
much worse. They looked out of place in their street clothes, especially inside the castle. They didn't wear Muggle clothes to Hogwarts in the first two movies. Why the change? What really ruined the movie for me was the hectic pace and
the holes in the script. The third book had a lot of slow spots where the
characters just talked-about the past, about Sirius and his relationship with the Potters, about Peter Pettigrew. There was very little explanation in this film. If you read the book you knew what was going on, but if you didn't you were left guessing about a lot of things. I particularly missed Sirius lengthy explanation of his actions after the Potters were killed, and I was surprised that with so many special effects they couldn't squeeze in the picture of Sirius as best man at James' and Lily's wedding. Without Sirius talking to Harry about what really
happened, Harry's sudden warming to him seemed forced and unnatural, and
without explaining what Sirius had done to Snape, Snape still seems like an evil person who doesn't belong at Hogwarts. The bottom line? The characters
looked out of place in their street clothes and with all the holes in the script, they were either operating in the dark or using telepathy. I am looking forward to Rowling's next book, but I doubt I'll be very excited when the next movie comes out.