Returns to Hogwarts

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2005)

Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, brings the usual assorted hazards, challenges and life-threatening scrapes we've come to expect from this series. This time Potter is under threat from Sirius Black, an escapee from Azkaban Prison., who is apparently intent on murdering our hero and prematurely ending one of the most successful film series of all time. Along the way Harry must also face the frightening Dementor (the spectral guards of Azkaban Prison), get the better of Draco Malfoy, and save Hagrid's new pet from a sticky end.
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban is as well-produced as its predecessors, and atmospherically (if gloomily) photographed by Michael Seresin, with the usual excellent set designs (by Stuart Craig), impressively-realised visual effects and another good score from John Williams. There's also the usual excellent supporting cast, and the roll-call of Potter cast members is approaching a who's-who of British acting talent. This time Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis and Julie Christie join series regulars Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Julie Walters and others. If nothing else, these films are at least keeping half of Equity in employment.
I have to admit to being a little disappointed with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which stuck too closely to the formula of the first film, but The Prisoner of Azkaban at least introduces some new elements in the plot department. As in the previous two films, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts master plays an important role in the story. This time, however, the plot is a bit less predictable, and the audience is kept guessing which side Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) and some of the other characters are on. But there is also some evidence of sloppy writing, particularly with the "time turner" device, which is conveniently produced to save the day at one point.
Of the new cast members, only David Thewlis really gets that much of a part. Gary Oldman is very under-used as the prisoner Sirius Black, and Julie Christie barely appears. Michael Gambon meanwhile, does a decent enough job as the late Richard Harris's replacement as Professor Dumbledore. Tom Felton (as Potter's schoolboy nemesis Draco Malfoy) is also improved. In the first couple of films he seemed hopelessly miscast, but this time the makers seem to have realised his portrayal of Malfoy is more snivelling than threatening, and he seems more convincing.
A lot has been made of the frightening nature of some of the scenes in the film, particularly the Dementors. However, if you could take the hordes of giant spiders in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets you'll probably be fine here too. More to the point is whether children will really have the patience to sit through another two hour plus Harry Potter epic. Like its predecessors, The Prisoner of Azkaban could go with cutting by about 10-15 minutes and will seem long even for adult audiences. Sometimes these films have seemed a little too faithful and reverential to their source material, hence the impressive running times. As the books The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix are twice the length of their predecessors, the film-makers will have to lose their excessive caution and do some serious cutting and refashioning of the story if the next two films are to be a manageable length.