A truly magical movie experience! *may contain spoilers*

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2004)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment of both the Harry Potter movies, as well as the books written by acclaimed author J.K. Rowling. This movie was directed by Alfonso Cuaron, whereas the first two films were directed by Chris Columbus, and I find there is quite a bit of a difference--a very good one.
Upon entering their third year at Hogwarts, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, who is amazing in this film), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson), the trio finds out that there is a wizard by the name of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) who has escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban. He is legendary as he once killed thirteen muggles in a city street with a single curse.
This movie proves to be the darkest of the three in both the atmosphere, but also the content. The group of kids behind me in the theatre were crying when the dementors came on screen! The dementors are, of course, the guards of Azkaban prison, and as such need to be terrifying and powerful. The cinematographers did a wonderful job at creating the dementors; they're just as I pictured them to be. They're quite similar to the ring wraiths in Lord of the Rings, only you get to see a bit more detail when the souls get sucked from the victims.
Some of the new characters in the film are Professor Trelawney (brilliantly cast by a batty Emma Thompson), Professor Lupin (David Thewlis), Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall), and of course, replacing the late and beloved Richard Harris is Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore. Gambon does a good job, giving Dumbledore a slightly more mysterious air about him, but he is still no Harris.
Among the greatest achievements in this film have got to be the scenes where Harry flies Buckbeak the hippogriff, the scenes where the dementors swoop in on Harry in big groups, and the Knight Bus was truly entertaining, as well as its driver, Ernie Prang (Jimmy Gardner), a pimply-faced wizard by the name Stan Shunpike (Lee Ingleby), and the very amusing Shrunken Head, voiced by Lenny Henry.
Over all, if you want to see action, good acting, amazing special effects, and a good, imaginative story all rolled up into one, go see this one-hundred-forty-one minute movie. It's sure to please!