Another great addition to the franchise!

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2010)

Firstly i have too say that Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite book of all of them (I haven't read the first) in the Harry Potter series and I am very pleased how they put this story on screen. First and naturally right decision was too replace Chris Columbus because we are getting into a darker times in the series. The Mexican director Alfonso CuarÃ³n chances the whole atmosphere that Columbus had created, he goes deeper into the mysterious world and creates this wonderfully fresh and magical style that fits the movie 100%. He has also put a stop to most of the warmth and Sugary sweet attitude that the other two movies had, but that's only to show how much this story has matured. The characters have also grown up a lot and with that comes obviously new darker adventures then before.
Prisoner of Azkaban was exactly one of the darkest (except for the final one) and the director is able to bring moments from the book so completely on screen that it gave me goosebumps but that is something you don't see often. Watch your kids because Dementors and werewolves are no teletubbies.
The actors have also grown and Daniel Radcliff is again the man who grows the most from the second one but he has really grown as an actor since the first one. He could have practiced his crying a little bit better because his crying scene seemed a little forced. Emma Watson does her character ones again justice and brings to life the wonderful Hermione who has grown into a mature women. Rupert Grint keeps on getting better and better and his future looks quite promising. Michael Gambon takes the role of Dumbledore and does it very well but Richard Harris had made a wonderful character in Dumbledore, so entertaining and likable. Gambon gives his own style of the old headmaster and does it very well, he doesn't mimic Harris, he rather makes him his own. David Thewlis is also fantastic's Remus Lupin and Gary Oldman is also amazing in his role has Sirius Black, even though he has limited screen time.
Everything involving the style was flawless -- but I am not going to drag this review for to long so I try to keep it short. From the technical side of it to the wonderful music from John Williams, it's all great and there is nothing really to complain about but all this is also getting darker and darker with every movie.
There are some flaws I would like to talk about. My biggest complain is that there are a couple little holes that aren't filled from the book, like who made the map, how did Sirius escape and I wanted to see also them going more into Harry's past but unfortunately that happens when you are making a movie from a book, there will always be something that had too be left out.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban could easily stand on his own as a really entertaining and well made adventure-film that goes really fast through those 135 minutes; I mean it feels like an hour. Even for a couple of small flaws, this one is better then the other two (the other two are also really good by the way) and it seems every movie is better then it's predecessor.
9/10