The biggest disappointment of 2004

Rating: Null/10 (4 June 2004)

Where do I begin? Well, I am a great fan of the Harry Potter series. I have read it entirely around 4 times! Prisoner Of Azkaban was one of my favourites (The other is the 4th one). So, when the movie released, I naturally went for it First Day First Show. But I was let down badly.
The movie started with a bang. The scenes with Aunt Marge and the Knight Bus have been handled with care. Everything went on well till Harry reached school. The pace of the movie dropped dramatically. The interest was lost. Alfonso Cuaron has done a good job as a director, if not a flawless one. The FX are gr8. The main performances are superb. But the script is a major drawback.
Steven Kloves has done a pathetic job while adapting from the novel. Anyone who has not read the book may even like the movie. But for those who have read it and loved it, they will be thoroughly disappointed as I have been. The movie just does not sustain the hype.
The biggest problem is that many loopholes are left in the story that are sure to catch the viewer's eye. For example, how did Sirius Black escape from Azkaban? Or why did Snape hate Lupin and Black so much? Why did Snape hate Harry's father (which should have been answered in the first part itself)? Don't they have exams at Hogwarts? Why did Harry think that his dad saved him from Dementors? Why was his patronus a stag? The list is endless.
Another problem are the parts missing from the movie. The parts where Harry hears his mum's scream (which gave me goosebumps when I read the book) are not shown well. The Quidditch Final is absent wherein Gryffindor wins. Characters like Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang are absent. They will play a very important part in the 4th and 5th part. Dumbledore is reduced to nothing. The fight between Ron and Hermione over Scabbers is badly executed. The part of Buckbeak's hearing is badly presented. I thought dementors glided in the air, not flew. The friendship between M/s. Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs is not even explained. The climax is weak. The explanation given by Black and Lupin is not satisfying. The humour is missing. Such crucial elements from the book are missing.
Gary Oldman does an atrocious job in portraying Sirius. Even the character is badly sketched (again...bad scripting). Sirius was to be a hardened man when he escaped from Azkaban. He was supposed to be everything that Gary Oldman's character in the movie was not. David Thewlis as Professor Lupin does not impress. Peter Pettigrew is horrible. However, Emma Thompson did a wonderful job as Professor Trelawney. She looks exactly like Trelawney.
All in All, PoA is a product which looks pretty but lacks substance. In the H.P. series, this is definitely the worst. Even Day After Tomorrow is better, which is saying something. One sometimes wonders, how could J.K. Rowling have let this happen.
For those who have not read the book, I give it 6/10, but for others, it is 3/10.