Huh, I was slightly disappointed...

Rating: Null/10 (7 June 2004)

*WARNING: A few spoilers are located in this review*
As Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third installment of the series, premiered on June 4th, I was extremely excited. All that week (more like all month) I couldn't get Harry Potter out of my head. I had read all of the books and enjoyed both proceeding movies thoroughly. But as I walked out of the theatre that Sunday evening, I couldn't help, but feel a bit disappointed. Maybe it's because of all the hype I put into it, I expected something spectacular. What I got was a mediocre film about the famous boy wizard. Sure, it had its moments, but definitely not it's best.
The story goes like this: Harry is about to start his third school year at Hogwarts and he is in a sort of predicament. Mayhem insures when his uncle's sister visits and Harry decides that it's time to run away. He manages to get to the Platform 9¾ in time for the train to leave. He finds out that Sirius Black, a convicted murderer who was believed to have been a faithful servant of Lord Voldermort, is out on the loose and he is somehow connected to Harry (sorry, I'm not the best with summaries).
Don't get me wrong I absolutely adore Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a genius and her books can't get any better. But this film was certainly different. While hiring a new director, Alfonso Cuaron, a different style is put into making this film.
First, lets talk about the not so good points. Right from the beginning, I could feel that there was something different about the movie. I found it extremely choppy throughout its entirety. The movie just seemed like a bunch of scenes all smashed together. The transitions were sloppy and could have been better made.
The Quidditch match was quite pathetic. Since they were playing in stormy weather, they were all wearing goofy goggles and it made me laugh instead of scared. Hopefully, they'll be able to redeem themselves through the fourth book. I better be seeing that Quidditch World Cup!
Draco Malfoy, our favourite character we love to hate, was definitely way too wimpy in this movie. Yes, it was funny when Hermione started beating up on the kid, but where did all of his meanness go? It seems to have flown out on a broom (pun intended). I wanted to loathe Malfoy, not laugh at him.
Okay, now that we've gotten the messy parts out, which parts were superb? One of the first things I noticed was the scenery shot for the movie. I couldn't believe my eyes. The director had taken a totally different turn with the background and it worked. It was very Lord of the Rings-esque and I just thought it was beautiful. Kudos to the director for an excellent job well done.
And who could forget about the characters? All of the actors are now grown-up and were quite good-looking, if I do say so myself. Acting abilities have improved since the first movie and it made a difference. Plus, all those boys with those yummy accents were quite the eye candy required in a movie such as this.
On the topic of actors, Rupert Grint (who plays Ron Weasley), is still my favourite actor from the beginning of the series. He continually shows talent by his scenes, which are there to provide comic relief. Now that his voice has changed (due to puberty), he no longer has to suffer the pains of a squeaky voice, like that in the second movie.
Another plus for the movie was the little parts inspired by Macbeth. On the movie poster, its tagline read, 'Something wicked this way comes.' In the movie, a choir of students sing the witches infamous chant, 'Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.' If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the character of Macbeth parallels the character of Lord Voldermort. Voldermort, the powerful wizard who killed Harry's parents, was blinded by pure ambition. He wanted so much the power of all that he was willing to kill just about anybody to get it. This is the same with Macbeth. He was able to kill anybody if it were to get his to the throne.
To wrap up this already long review, I just want to say that Prisoner of Azkaban was enjoyable. But, it was still slightly disappointing. The entire movie was choppy and I just couldn't feel any heart to it. Maybe it was because the style of the director was different, or maybe the writing of the script wasn't so good. All in all, this movie had its great moments, yet it wasn't flawless. I could seriously go on and on about what I liked and what I didn't like (I'm still thinking of them as I, er, type), but most of you would get bored. Maybe I won't put so much hype into its next film.