Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This film proves that Chris Columbus makes crappy movies. (Or at least nothing worth watching since Mrs. Doubtfire.) Either he kowtowed to J.K. Rowling more than Alfonso Cuarón did, or she watched the previous two films and realized that making a book into a film means more than translating it exactly, word for word and note for note. Which is exactly what Cuarón has not done. Instead, he's built his own vision of the book: darker, more realistic, and dare I say even wittier in parts. The kids are all still excellent actors, growing into their parts and looking like teenagers now (and yes, there are hints of sexual tension now, which might be disconcerting to some viewers). The teachers seem better integrated into the story, the atmosphere as I said is deliciously dark yet still very funny, and above all someone spent time creating subtext for the film. I certainly never expected this in a kid's fantasy-action-adventure tent-pole kind of film. For example, the director highlights the time travel portion of the latter half of the film with complex shots of the inner workings of the main school clock. Another example is the wardrobe containing the bogart -- the camera pans to its mirrored surface, reflecting the students' faces full of fear of the bogart, who will reflect their fears back at them. The third book is my favorite Harry Potter book so far because of its complexity and its surprises. Which makes giving the film my highest rating somewhat problematic. For those who haven't read even one of the books (do these folks really exist?), the plotline is going to speed by with very little explanation of the whys and wherefores of the wizard universe. Still, it's so gloriously crafted that I'm positive even those folks (who don't exist) will enjoy it. Oh, and Emma Thompson channels Bill the Cat, plus there's an homage to Wile E. Coyote. Why would you want to miss this?

year: 2004
length: 142 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304141/combined