Harry at age 13

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2005)

First off, I'm a fan of the books. I have read this particular chapter, or should I say year, several times. My feelings on the film are as follows:
There are many new things to talk about this time out. First, Dumbledore's replacement. For those not in the know, Richard Harris passed shortly after the second film was finished. To me, he was the perfect Dumbledore right from the beginning and I had a hard time seeing a new face in the role. Michael Gambon was satisfactory but too many key elements from the character are missing. Instead of playing Dumbledore as a wise, kind and somewhat tired old wizard as Harris did, Gambon seems more energetic and detached from the main characters. I felt as though he and Harry's relationship took a step backwards from the previous movies. I felt as though Harris' performance was closer to Dumbledore as written in the books.
Second, we have a new director. Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron steps in and to my delight has given the series a fresh and interesting approach. He approaches the darker tones found in the book with vigor and panache. I was very happy with his visual style. It was very bold and edgy, yet full of emotion. Yeah "Y Tu Mama Tambien" dude. Way to step up. Great job with the dementors and Sirius Black.
This is what I consider the turning point towards maturity for the characters in the books. I was very happy to see that this transition was also made in the film version.
8/10
Also, I would like it to be known that this is one of John Williams' very best film scores, and that's saying a lot. He was robbed at the Oscars. Oh well. He has 5 already.