Darker, slightly rushed - but still great fun

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2004)

Start off by saying this was my favourite book of the 5 released so far. The first two are a little bit childish (as is their intention - no problem with that) the last two are a little bit padded. Prisoner of Azkaban the book had the perfect blend of active story and back story (for me). So I was really looking forward to the film but was a little bit dubious about the running time, fearing that essential elements of the book would be cut. My fears were realised when seeing the film. Several important elements of the book were removed or shortened to fit into the film's running time which I feel detracted from the film a little bit, including the origin of the Marauders Map, the relationship between all the parties involved etc. The pace of the film was very fast as it tried to cram in as much as possible leaving no time to pause and reflect on the characters. The character of Sirius, although played well by Gary Oldman, was not on screen enough and the fear of his impending presence was not put across well enough (in the books he is so feared that even the "muggle" police have heard of him).
The three main characters did a reasonable job again - especially Rupert Grint and Emma Watson who I feel are getting better each film.
Alan Rickman as Professor Snape was a little under used as he was important character in the book and was terrific in the first 2 films.
Good things. special effects were, as expected, excellent. Buck Beak looked awesome. The Dementors looked pretty good as well. The Dementor "Effect" was well realised and did a pretty good job of visualising the slightly difficult concept of having your happiness sucked out of you.
For all the minor niggles i raised earlier i still loved this film - great fun, a little scary in parts for younger children (the werewolf scenes were excellent).
8/10