Seen: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

[blufive]

[IMDB]
Having escaped from the dismal Dursleys once more, Harry discovers that Sirius Black, the wizard who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort, has escaped from the wizards' prison at Azkaban. When the pupils arrive at Hogwarts for the new term, they find the wraith-like Dementors, guardians of Azkaban Fortress, waiting for them...

The third HP film, and the first where I've read the book. This time out, we've got a new director, who certainly makes his presence felt. The most visible difference is that the whole film is shot in much more washed-out colours, rather than the vibrant, rich pallette of the earlier films, adding to the chilling presence of the dementors.

Personally, the best thing about the change of directors was Cuarón's willingness to credit the audience with some degree of intellect - I found Chris Columbus' tendency to ram his visual exposition home with the subtlety of a charging bull elephant to be somewhat annoying.

The kids are much less wholesome-gosh-wow, too, but it's tricky to tell how much of that is due to the change in director and how much is the actors growing up. A bit of both, I reckon.

While the long running time (for a "kids" movie) is still there, I noticed less gratuitous padding than the earlier films - things seem more tightly focused on the plot, with fewer diversions. A few details get snipped from the plot as presented in the book, as is always necessary when adapting from print, (unless you start with a short story or want a 6-hour film) but things hold up well.

Best Potter Movie yet.

Comments

[serpentstar.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it, though I feel that it's all getting a bit Star Trek -- assorted problems occur, apparently insoluble, until, oh look, here's some handy gizmo that will sort it all out.

Spoiler -- anyone who's not seen the movie or read the book, don't read on:



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The time travel bit is very cliched to anyone who's read more than 3 SF books in their life too!

[blufive.livejournal.com]

Ooh, harsh. They're not quite at magic-particle-of-the-week level yet. And it's a story about wizards - of course there's going to be magic involved :)

[devilgate.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's the best yet. And as to the long running time for kids, two points. 1) I think I read that it's actually shorter than the previous one. 2) I read a quote from Phillip Pullman once, to the effect that a kid's attention span is as long as the story you're telling them, which matches my experience.

[blufive.livejournal.com]

[apologies for delay replying, comment emails are going astray ATM]

Yes, it is shorter, but still long according to conventional "wisdom".

Yup, I reckon PP is spot on, too.