A wonderfully inventive and entertaining entry that starts the series' slow transition into darker territory.

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2018)

A change of direction helps bolster the film's darker tone, lending a slightly 'odd' feel to the piece, and a time-travel element introduced later on provides a refreshingly unique third act, but 'Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)' feels perhaps the least connected to the overall franchise, with its plot having little lasting impact aside from introducing some interesting new characters and concepts. It is an entertaining movie with several exciting, and occasionally somewhat scary, sequences, but it does feel slightly underwhelming on the whole. Still, it's a great film. It's a unique, enjoyable experience that sits comfortably among its peers. It also serves as a perfect transition from the earlier and generally lighter films to the heavier ones later on, though the transition is much smoother than you might remember and even the first flick has moments of proper grittiness in it. This film is the first in the series to properly capture the wistful tone associated with the character, too. Wonderfully inventive stuff. 8/10