Directing and screenwriter stand out in perfection

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2019)

Everyone's favorite of the Harry Potter movies is the first one, right? A close second place for me and my family is the third installment: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Not only is the story very interesting, fast-paced, and full of mysterious twists, but director Alfonso Cuaron turns ordinary exposition shots into works of art. After seeing the same castle and sets the past two movies, it's intriguing to see them filmed differently. It reminds you to pay attention to details as well as the big picture, and it subtly tells you that you'll need to see the movie at least twice to understand its full potential. There's a famous transition he films through the clock tower that's continually gorgeous no matter how many times you've seen it.
Onto the story: Once again, Daniel Radcliffe starts the movie unhappy in the home of his aunt and uncle, Fiona Shaw and Richard Griffiths. This time around, since he's entering his teenage years, he gets fed up and runs away to the wizarding world before summer vacation has ended. Everyone's worried about him because there's been a prison break from Alcatraz-I mean, Azkaban-and a dangerous criminal, Gary Oldman, is on the loose. Entering his third year of school with all that on his mind, he still has to deal with the hostility of his least favorite teacher, Alan Rickman, taunts from the school bully, Tom Felton, and the presence of some very scary guards hanging around the school who are on the lookout for Gary but might kill anyone else on accident. Hogwarts sure isn't the safest school out there, is it?
Believe me, that's just the start of the plot, and as the film progresses, you'll be endlessly fascinated by the story. Screenwriter Steve Kloves managed to sew the scenes together tightly without making anything feel rushed, and since the audience already knows the ins and outs of the Hogwarts world, there's no time spent on explanations or exposition. There are a few new additions in this movie, of course: the Marauder's Map that shows the locations of everyone on campus, Hagrid's pet Hippogriff, the speedy public transit for the wizarding world, the Dementors and the special spell that repels them, and the new "guest star" teacher, ¬¬¬David Thewlis, who's very sympathetic and easy to like. Keep an eye out for Julie Christie, who has a cameo as a pub owner, Emma Thompson as the "psychic" divinity teacher, and Timothy Spall.
The only blot of imperfection on an otherwise imperfect film is the replacement of Richard Harris with Michael Gambon. Even if you managed to get used to him in later films, it's quite a shock to have him installed in this movie. Not only does he look nothing like his predecessor, but he's fashioned differently and delivers every line as if he thought to himself, "How wouldn't Richard Harris have said this line?" If he truly did have a vastly different interpretation of the character, it would have been nice to ease the audience into it. The replacement couldn't have been helped, unless a huge change to the rest of the stories was made-had the school given a very sad but touching funeral for Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall been promoted to Headmistress, the rest of the stories still would have been functional, and with an added boost for feminist viewers-but we'll all miss Richard Harris's twinkling blue eyes and kind, sensitive delivery.