Not as good as Harry Potter #1 and #2

Rating: 5/10 (7 June 2004)

I think Chris Columbus was a better director for the Potter series. The first two movies followed the books from start to finish and gave such background on everything that even if a viewer hadn't read the books, the plot could be easily followed. In watching Prisoner of Azkaban, I really felt if I had not read the books some things were not given as much weight, or were not totally understandable.
For instance, the significance of Harry being able to conjure a stag! The book expressed what a powerful wizard Harry was to do that and he's only 13!
In the movie, it just happened.
Overall this 3rd movie was a little disappointing as compared with #1 and #2.