Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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I mentioned in my review for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that I wasn’t entirely sure if or when I would be able to complete my personal reviews for the Harry Potter franchise. I have decided to get as many of them reviewed over the next few days as I possibly can. With Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chris Columbus hands directing duties over to Alfonso Cuaron (who has a reputation as arguably one of the greatest directors of all time). Harry’s third year at Hogwarts begins showing the very real dangers that can easily exist in the wizarding world. The wizarding world is on high alert after a supposedly dangerous prisoner of the wizarding world’s prison, Azakban, escapes. Much of the movie explores Harry’s anger, frustration, and fear. One of the things that this movie explores is the idea Harry starting to legitimately feel like he has good father figures in his life. The first one we are introduced to is this year’s defense against the dark arts professor, Remus Lupin (played by David Thewlis). This is a man who shows legitimate kindness, even acting as the first professor to take over this task who actually seems like he knows what he’s doing. I also like that he has his own dangerous secrets that he does his best to try and hide from others. The other character we are introduced to who begins acting in this way to Harry is the prisoner of Azkaban himself, Sirius Black (played by the great Gary Oldman). I actually legitimately like the bait-and-switch this movie offers. They build up this idea that Sirius Black is the antagonist of the story. But, I like that the story’s true villain is Ron’s previously unassuming rat Scabbers. There’s also something truly creepy about the idea that a grown man has spent the last decade disguised as a rat, and serving as the pet for two different young boys.  This is the movie in the franchise that truly begins to shift the overall tone. This is the film in the series that introduces the Dementors as antagonists. They are creatures that tend to suck out your joy (at the very least). At the very worst, they suck out your soul entirely. Some of the praises I have given the first two movies easily stand up in this film as well, like the acting. These are some of the visual effects I personally think hold up as some of the absolute best of the franchise. Some of the time travel stuff that is introduced in this film can legitimately make things a bit messy. To be fair, it isn’t the absolute messiest use of time travel by any means. But, time travel almost always creates problems in a story’s plot, whether they are small or large. There’s also some tonal stuff with the character Professor Trelawney (played by Emma Thompson) that could be off-putting for some viewers. For example, there is that scene where she makes the prophecy about “servant reuniting with master.” Once she snaps out of it, she reacts with something along the lines of: “Sorry, dear. Did you say something?” It may not be something I necessarily agree with, but I can easily see and understand the potential argument that a truly serious scene is undercut with a joke. I can’t say this one of my personal favorite Harry Potter movies, but I still really enjoy it overall.   

8 / 10