Oooh, It's so dark!

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2007)

This third outing for Harry Potter sees the franchise beginning to expand on its roots. The feel of this movie is different compared to Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, giving us a darker, more intense experience. Harry and his pals are growing up fast, our hero having to come to terms with the fact that the psychopathic betrayer of his parents to Lord Voldemort has broken out of the wizard's prison Azkaban (a sort of magical version of Broadmoor)and is possibly hunting him.
Director Alphonso Curaron wastes no time in setting up the plot, which fairly zips along, bypassing the occasionally leaden pace of the first two films. And the basic theme of the story - that of facing up to fears and conquering them, gives it slightly more gravitas, too. Curaron takes a few more risks with the material, and generally brings it off, although the "darkness" of the story is only relative. Get Carter it isn't.
Certain scenes will stay in your memory, The "Boggart Bit" and the hilarious sight of Alan Rickman in drag. Hard to picture him as the Sheriff Of Nottingham after this! The leads do reasonably well again, and David Thewlis is a welcome addition to the regular cast. And it's great to see Gary Oldman playing on his image as the escaped dark wizard Sirius Black. Of course there's more about him than meets the eye...
Michael Gambon takes over the role of Albus Dumbledore from the late Richard Harris, although he doesn't have the same sort of charm, coming across as a bit stroppy on occasion. It is always difficult to replace an already accepted actor in the part, though.
If it were possible, I'd give Prisoner of Azkaban 7.5, as it's the best of the first three films, but I'll have to settle for the same rating as Chamber of Secrets.
Highly recommended, though it might be hard to pick up the story if you've not seen the first two.