Excellent Film, Very Well Done by Cuaron (Maybe Some Spoilers)

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2004)

I love the Harry Potter books a lot, they're really fun to read and have some good suspenseful moments (except for the end of Book Five, which only really evoked anger. Thank God for Fred and George) and great images that you can think of in your mind. Are the books the best thing ever written? No. Not even close, but they're still great. And my favorite one so far (waiting in anticipation for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and whatever Book Seven will be) is Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban. Don't get me wrong, the first two were great, but Book Three took the cake.
I really like the books, but am not the biggest fan of the franchise.
I was disappointed in the first two films. Film One wasn't very good at all, too much CGI and the kids weren't really working their characters Film Two was much better, but again, the kids weren't the characters and there was way too much CGI camera effects. So what did I expect about Film Three? First, I was stoked to see that Chris Colombus wasn't going to direct these films, and when I found out that Alfonso Cuaron (from Y Tu Mama Tambien and A Little Princess fame) was helming this project I was psyched out of my mind and I probably anticipated this film more than any other this summer (and third for the entire year, after The Incredibles and Kill Bill Volume 2).
Was I let down?
No. First of all, Cuaron says a nice "Screw You" to Colombus's vision of a happy castle where everyone gets along and little furry woodland creatures come up and sing songs. Hogwarts is now dark and mysterious, now maliciously lurking in the shadows. More like the Hogwarts I pictured while reading the books. And then there's this cool bridge thingy that stretches out, which is one of my favorite editions, along with the clocktower. If not for anything else, check out this film for its amazing cinematography and superb direction by Cuaron.
The actors finally come into their characters. And Emma Watson becomes a total hottie. I think what helped a lot is the focus more on entering puberty and growing up rather than playing with magic. On a sidenote, Cuaron had the kids write an essay about their characters. Daniel Radcliff turned in one about 3 pages long, Emma Watson turned one in 16 pages long, and Rupert Grint didn't even do it. But the kids are now the characters and you're totally engrossed by the story.
Which is: Harry Potter is going back to Hogwarts, but is being pursued by this escaped convict from the wizard version of Alcatraz, Azkaban. Everyone is scared pantsless and dementors (basically Ringwraiths that can fly and suck out your soul, but are still cool nonetheless) patrol the school grounds. We find out that the convict is Sirius Black, a friend of the Potters who betrayed them and wants to kill Harry because he wants Voldemort to go back to power (or does he?). Harry gets pissed and wants to kill him for doing what he did.
I did have a few problems with the film, that kept it from being perfect. I thought the confrontation with Sirius Black was a little TOO rushed. And the werewolf really didn't do anything for me.
But those problems are cancelled out by the best time-travel scene so far and the wonderful acting and cinematography. Not to mention the CGI effects are mainly thrown in the background, since Cuaron wisely wants to focus more on the characters, something that I think Colombus would have never done. That's not to say there aren't any. But they look good and fit with everything else in the film. Like Buckbeak, who is very well done, and then the return of the Whomping Willow, now more as a character rather than a prop. Still, this film also has my favorite CGI camera work, when we go through this clocktower...So awesome.
I saw this with a friend and he had more problems than I did and complained about them before saying he overall liked the movie. I really only had those two problems so I really, really enjoyed it. With the fans of the books this is either their favorite (as in my case) or their least favorite, and from what I've seen on message boards and stuff, it seems to be the same for the films. I say check it out, because it's really worth it. I give it 3.5/4.