The "Harry Potter" franchise at (broomstick's) cruising speed...

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2018)

Animaguses and werewolves, a flying hypogriff, which is a pleonasm, night buses, talking paintings, time turners and so on and so forth... all these exciting products of J.K. Rowling's fruitful imagination blending with centuries of fantasy literature, bloom as smoothly as naturally in the third opus of the Harry Potter's series: "Prisoner of Azkaban". I liked it a lot and I was surprised by how much I liked it.
Indeed, after two movies, I started to notice patterns within the structure ... sometimes they enhanced my excitement, some others, I wasn't quite sure whether I wanted to experience them again. For instance, I knew the film would start at the Dursleys and I was wondering what kind of mischief Harry would inadvertently cause, I wasn't disappointed and Pam Ferris sure got what she deserved for insulting his parents. I also liked that for once it was Harry going out by himself telling viewers in all subtext that Harry has grown up and wouldn't take it anymore.
I was also expecting a few newcomers: as the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, Professor Rupin, David Thewlis proved to be a nice addition and so was Emma Thompson as a Professor Sybill Trelawney. I expected of course a new villain, and seeing Gary Oldman introduced as Sirius Black, the man who caused the murder of Potter's parent, I expected quite a climax. But all positive expectations put aside; in all fairness, there was something perplexing about the title.
"Prisoner of Azkaban" made me expect a prison (duh!) so I visualized a high dungeon or a dark tower over a high cliff with many passageways and corridors inside. Which means that after the claustrophobic and unnerving journey around the "Chamber of Secrets", I wasn't too excited by the premise of another in-door adventure. So you can imagine how much I enjoyed "Azkaban" and its departure from the usual settings. Most of the adventure takes place outside Hogwarts, and features great exterior shots. It says a lot that the film wasn't Oscar-nominated for Best Set Design.
However, it was nominated for Best Score and Best Visual Effects and on that level, the film is an absolute delight. "Secrets" was made of variations from the previous score because John Williams had a busy year but here, he makes a spectacular come-back with a score that is as heart-pounding and triumphant as any fantasy epic, far from the ominous and whimsicality of the original score. And the visuals remind us that CGI reached a point of maturation in 2004, though Alfonso Cuaron, the newly assigned director, didn't let them overtake the film and the best computer effects are never obtained without the involvement of some practical ones.
So "Azkaban" is an outdoor adventure, perfectly suitable for three protagonists whose ages are around 13 or 15 and seem more fit to be running over a hill, flying on an apogriff or finally punching the odious Malefoy in the face, than any riddle to solve within the confined walls of Hogwarts. It's like the scope of the adventure was too big for the school and allowed us viewers to have some relief and a share of fun as Harry attempts to catch Sirius Black and avenge his parents' death. That would be too linear of course so within his journey, many obstacles will be set as well as many opportunities to unveil many secrets.
And that's the mark of the best franchises, they don't touch the pillars (the leading trio, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape and even Malefoy) they enrich the gallery with new protagonists and plot elements, but they also dig deeper in the past and reveal a whole chain of events that preceded Harry Potter, as if the story was only one link of an epic chain, one that involves so many characters the franchise start to strike as a real universe where each member gets into a passage rite consisting of a substantial contribution to the plot. In "Secrets", Ron took part to the climax without Hermione, "Azkaban" allows Hermione to finally shine and contribute to the resolution. Characters start to act like heroes on their own and not just foils.
And all the teachers and courses are left to the backdrop. Seriously, I didn't expect the film to be contain such a great deal of escapism but it says a lot about the seriousness upon which Rowling and the Warner Bros studios considered the franchise and insisted on maintaining this capability to precede the viewers or the readers' anticipations, to surprise them. And that's the least one would expect from a series dealing with the world of wizardry, isn't it? And any innovation works because we're getting used to the world of spells and magical formulas so we can accept any new trick as long as it has rules of its own.
And it all comes down to that last nice time-playing twist I didn't see coming, and that could have been contrived if it wasn't foreshadowed in previous scenes. Yes, the Harry Potter plays tricks with us but never without elements of foreshadowing, even some that weren't meant to foretell anything. Yes, they play tricks with us, and in retrospect, they often work. : from a simple pet animal that hides a terrible secret to the explanation of why Hermione is so studious and always ahead of her schoolmates.
Though the story didn't get darker than "Secrets", it goes deeper in Harry's fears and traumas and features some of the most frightening creatures after you-know-who in the Dementors (the guardians of Azkaban). But the tone is quite lighthearted and the film has more the flavor of a teen adventure than a fantasy movie, but don't get it wrong, it's still a Harry Potter, and the series is definitely at cruising speed. Broomstick-wise of course.