like eating McDonalds food . . . .

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 2004)

**Spoiler**
. . . . When you're really hungry, and you haven't eaten it for a while. You savour every mouthful and ask yourself why you don't eat there more often. An hour later, you're hungry again.
Azkaban had many many many good points. Howver, there were so many things that disappointed me too. I freely admit to being a Potter nut - damn, I even wrote my BA Hons dissertation on Harry! So that makes me feel somewhat proprietorial towards him. Lets start with the good.
The look and feel of the film was absolutely spot on. Don't misunderstand me, the first two were great. But they felt a bit Enid Blyton really - there was lots of sunshine and 40s style clothing. Cuaron brings Hogwarts a bit more up to date, and the kids feel much more real kids. The 'male bonding' scene in the Gryffindor boys dorm was particularly noteworthy. Although having introduced a plot device of sweets that make you sound like animals, why didn't it get reused later for Hermione's werewolf impression? I also find it difficult to believe that Professor McGonagall would have let the Gryffindors wander around the school in varying states of disarray the way they did. There'd have been some pretty stiff detentions handed out for sure.
It's nice to watch all the kids growing up, Neville in particular has changed rather a lot since the last film. The three principals get better with every film they make, and I sincerely hope that they stick it out for all of them. The dynamics between them are a joy to watch, particular Ron and Hermione's burgeoning 'romance'. Rupert Grint is particularly brilliant and realises Ron perfectly. I love the scene where he wakes from his nightmare. 'The spiders! The spiders want me to tapdance!'
The adult cast were equally brilliant, with Cuaron setting up lots of people for future use - I can't wait to see Paul Whitehouse as Sir Cadogan, and a bit more of Madame Rosmerta. Emma Thompson was deliciously deranged as Professor Trelawney, and Robert Hardy a wonderful Fudge. Once again, Snape was brilliant, but horribly underused. And when will they bring back Madame Hooch?
Now, criticisms. I'll say it again. WHERE WAS SNAPE? In the book, the character of Severus Snape is getting ever more complex, his motivations and his relationships to other characters are being slowly revealed. This was completely omitted from the film. I realize that there is an awful lot of material to get through, but still . . . . And I'm not sure how Harry got away without a detention after Snape caught him wandering around the school AT NIGHT. The Weasley twins are getting worse and worse. I'm beginning to really worry what they will do when we get to Order of the Phoenix, where they have moments that steal the book away from Harry entirely. Lets replace them with CGI Weasleys, they could only be an improvement. And what happened to our Head Boy? And what is going on with Draco? He comes on the big bad Slytherin king, and ends up running away blubbing every time. That's just wrong. And I still don't know what to make of Lupin and Black. They were both hampered by the way their plotlines were so badly rushed, but neither of them lived up to my expectations. I always pictured Remus as a much more attractive character than Thewlis, although his acting was spot on. I loved the scene with the Boggart where he put the gramophone on whilst having the students attack the creature.
The relationship between Sirius, James, Remus and Peter was never fully explained, which might explain why I found the character of Sirius so deeply unsatisfying. We never find out how he escaped from Azkaban, how they became Animagi, or the guilt Sirius feels about Lily and James. He flips straight from drooling madman to asking Harry to live with him which was too much for me to take. His final scenes with Harry were nicely done though.
Pettigrew's character was completely butchered. Like Sirius, his history was not explored, nor the significance of his escape. There's going to have to be an awful lot of backfilling in Goblet of Fire to fill in all this stuff. What hurt about these omissions was that they were so unnecessary. Rowling wrote two beautiful scenes in the book - the three broomsticks and the shrieking shack' - that filled in all these gaps. The screenplay writer just stomped all over them.
Despite these major flaws, I do still love this film and will go and see it again. My expectations were very high, and it would have been unlikely for them to have been wholly fulfilled. Maybe in Goblet of Fire?