HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Great Expectations, A Little Princess)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson & most of the best English actors currently available.

Flying in the face of the mass of critics here, I found this to be the least enjoyable Potter movie to date (albeit only marginally). I still think its a wonderful movie with much to recommend it. With Chris Columbus no longer directing the films (replaced by Alonso Cuaron of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame) this movie takes a sharp turn toward magnificent, albeit dark, visuals that far surpass the previous films. Also excellent was the acting. New actors David Thewlis as Professor Lupin, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney were all standouts (and this is among the extraordinary group of returning actors such as Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane). Michael Gambon does not hold a candle to the imposing presence of the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, but he is serviceable. So, this movie is quite good: It has extraordinary visuals, a gripping plot, excellent acting ... How can I rate it below the previous films? What's missing is the magic. Instead of the joyous magical place where we would smile even in the midst of terrifying sequences, we get a contemporary mass of hipster teenagers and a pacing that pushes the plot along too quickly. Every kid in this movie looks like they just walked out of a rave club. I mean *every* kid. Real children aren't anywhere near this hip. More importantly, this is in a thematic universe pointedly about being an outcast child! I have no idea what the director was thinking, but this was plainly a very bad decision. As with the book, I also found the plot itself to be weaker (although this is in comparison to the other supremely delightful stories about boy Potter). This installment makes use of a very flimsy time-travel twist to neatly solve everything in the end. For some reason it's never mentioned why they don't use this time travel to solve their problems in the other stories. I wonder why? Blah, weak writing. However, as I said, there was very much else that was simply excellent in this film. The series remains magnificent.

Standouts: Gorgeous visuals, intense tone to film. I.e. Very good direction.
Blowouts: A couple of silly attempts to lead Harry Potter into the hipster realm. Plot holes.

Grade: A-