Well a little preface to this movie review. I never really got into the Harry Potter stuff much when it first came out. I liked the first movie and so we bought the DVD but felt a little trapped in buying the second and third films, just because we couldn't only have the first one. Well I am glad I did. Lately I have been listening to the Harry Potter books (I am currently on The Goblet of Fire) and finding myself getting drawn into the stories more than before. Because I had only seen The Prisoner of Azkaban in theaters and hadn't even watched the DVD we bought, I figured I should check it out again. Most of you have seen the movie or read the book so I am going to keep this pretty brief.
I liked The Prisoner of Azkaban and actually think it's the best Harry Potter movie so far. It's close with The sorcerer's Stone, which I also liked very much. I am giving the movie 4 stars.
I think this movie was a lot of fun to watch and it was really well made. Of special note are the special effects which are much better than either of the previous two Harry Potter films and the unique direction of this film vs. the others. The introduction of a new director, Alfonso Cuaron, definitely helped to change up the series a little bit. I especially enjoyed the "time turner" parts of the film, which are quite a bit different than the book but must have been difficult to transfer to film. There is also the introduction of the character Sirius Black played very well by Gary Oldman. In general the acting in the movie isn't great, it's mostly kids so I didn't expect much. But as mentioned before Gary Oldman is excellent as well as Alan Rickman as professor Snape.
It's always difficult to take a book and put it on screen, but being required to cut out a lot of content I still think the film makers did a really good job with this one. The pacing is good and there are just some really fun, clever things in the books as well as this movie in particular.
The Bottom Line... Because most people have either already seen this movie or read this book I am going to jump straight to The Bottom Line. If you liked either of the previous Harry Potter films and haven't seen this one yet, go out and see it. You will definitely like the change of pace the new director brings even if you are a bit bored and tired of the whole Harry Potter thing. Of course the next two films are already in the works so get used to Harry Potter movies being around for a while. Which is another reason why everyone should catch up on the films if they haven't seen the second or third yet. With several more films to come you will probably come upon a situation where you are invited to see one of the later movies at the theater or at home with friends or family. Stay caught up and then you won't have to fill in the gaps later as well as finding yourself getting into it later and having to play catch up. (IE: Molly watching Star Wars Episode I and II in one night so she could go out and see Episode III and know what is going on). The movie is PG-13 and there is some scary scenes and events so if you have kids under 13 that really want to see it, go watch it yourself and judge for your kids if they should see it or not. The film is a lot of fun and if you get to know the characters I think most people will be drawn into the story and enjoy this, as well as the upcoming Harry Potter films.
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