A Review

Rating: 1/10 (5 June 2004)

I am a huge Harry Potter fan that has been looking forward to this movie ever since the credits finished rolling for Chamber of Secrets. To say that I am disappointed in this film is a huge understatement. I shall start with the characters. The two most fascinating and powerful characters in the books and first two movies outside of the three kids are Snape and Dumbledore, Snape is reduced to a seldom used butt of a joke and Dumbledore has completely lost his magnificent presence and aura and is closer to a doddering old man. One of the most effective parts of the first two movies is the magical settings and costumes, these are completely missing from this movie. Hogwarts looks shabby and stark, Hagrids Hut more closely resembles a redneck trailer home. The students spend most of their time in street clothes, the entire 'feel' of the movie is more like a cheap imitation of 'Lord of the Rings' than the wonderful settings from the first two movies. However the most disappointing part of the movie is its plot/storyline... While the first two movies brought the books to life in a vivid and spectacular fashion with a faithful presentation Prisoner of Azkaban is a choppy, mutilated version of the book, completely lacking the engrossing nature of the book. Many important elements of the book were completely overlooked or 'changed'. The most important omission to me was the lack of any explanation of the significance of 'Padfoot, Mooney, Prongs and Wormtail and their relationships. Also the book introduced Cedric Diggory as the Hufflepuff seeker that beat Harry and brought about a level of animosity toward him by the Griffyndors... Cuaron seemed to approach POA with an intent to make it a combination of 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Men in Black' it was a complete failure...