Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review
Extended cast:-
Daniel Radcliffe .... Harry
Potter
Richard Griffiths .... Uncle Vernon
Pam Ferris .... Aunt Marge
Fiona Shaw .... Aunt Petunia
Harry Melling .... Dudley Dursley
Adrian Rawlins .... James Potter
Geraldine Somerville .... Lily Potter
Lee Ingleby .... Stan Shunpike
Lenny Henry .... Shrunken Head
Jimmy Gardner .... Ernie the Bus Driver
Gary Oldman .... Sirius Black
Jim Tavaré .... Tom the Innkeeper
Robert Hardy .... Cornelius Fudge
Abby Ford .... Young Witch Maid
Rupert Grint .... Ron Weasley
Emma Watson .... Hermione Granger
Oliver Phelps .... George Weasley
James Phelps .... Fred Weasley
Chris Rankin .... Percy Weasley
Julie Walters .... Mrs. Molly Weasley
Bonnie Wright .... Ginny Weasley
Mark Williams .... Mr. Arthur Weasley
David Thewlis .... Professor Lupin
Devon Murray .... Seamus Finnegan
Warwick Davis .... Wizard
David Bradley .... Argus Filch
Michael Gambon .... Albus Dumbledore
Alan Rickman .... Professor Severus Snape
Maggie Smith .... Professor Minerva McGonagall
Robbie Coltrane .... Rubeus Hagrid
Matthew Lewis .... Neville Longbottom
Sitara Shah .... Parvati Patel
Jennifer Smith .... Lavender Brown
Tom Felton .... Draco Malfoy
Bronson Webb .... Slytherin Boy
Joshua Herdman .... Gregory Goyle (as Josh Herdman)
Genevieve Gaunt .... Pansy Parkinson
Kandice Morris .... Girl 1
Alfred Enoch .... Dean Thomas
Dawn French .... Fat Lady in Painting
Annalisa Bugliani .... Mother in Portrait
Tess Bu Cuarón .... Baby in Portrait
Violet Columbus .... Girl With Flowers
Paul Whitehouse .... Sir Cadogan
Emma Thompson .... Professor Sybil Trelawney
Ekow Quartey .... Boy 1
Rick Sahota .... Boy 2 (as Ricky Sahota)
Jamie Waylett .... Vincent Crabbe
Sharon Sandhu .... Girl 2
Danielle Tabor .... Angelina Johnson
Julie Christie .... Madame Rosmerta
Freddie Davies .... Old Man in Portrait (as Freddie
Davis)
Peter Best .... The Executioner
Timothy Spall .... Peter Pettigrew
Synopsis:-
Thirteen year-old Harry Potter
(DANIEL RADCLIFFE) has reluctantly spent yet another
summer with the Dursleys, his dismal relatives, "behaving
himself" and not practicing any magic. That is,
until Uncle Vernon's bullying sister, Aunt Marge (PAM
FERRIS), comes to visit. Aunt Marge has always been
particularly horrible to Harry and this time pushes
him so far that he "accidentally" causes her
to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift away!
Fearing punishment from his Aunt and Uncle (and repercussions
from Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, which strictly
forbids students from using magic in the non-magic world),
Harry escapes into the night.
He is promptly picked up by the Knight Bus, a fantastic
triple-decker purple vehicle that whisks him off to
the Leaky Cauldron pub. Upon arrival, Harry is met by
the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who inexplicably
doesn't punish the teenager for his errant wizardry
and instead insists that he spend the night at the Leaky
Cauldron before heading back to Hogwarts for his third
year of study.
It quickly transpires that a dangerous and enigmatic
wizard, Sirius Black (GARY OLDMAN), has escaped Azkaban
prison and is believed to be searching for Harry. Legend
has it that Black was responsible for leading Lord Voldemort
to Harry's parents and ultimately to their subsequent
deaths; it is also believed that he is determined to
kill Harry too.
To make matters worse, Hogwarts is playing host to the
Dementors, the terrifying Azkaban guards who are stationed
at the school in an attempt to protect the students
from Black. The Dementors suck the souls from their
victims and, unfortunately for Harry, they seem to have
more of an effect on him than the rest of his classmates.
Their ominous presence chills the young wizard to the
bone, rendering him virtually helpless, until Professor
Lupin (DAVID THEWLIS), the new Defense Against the Dark
Arts teacher, trains Harry in how to use the Patronus
Charm to shield himself from the Dementors' paralyzing
effects.
Meanwhile, Harry's third year at Hogwarts is filled
with exciting new creatures like Buckbeak, a magical
half-horse, half-eagle creature called a "Hippogriff";
eerie encounters with Divination Professor Sibyll Trelawney
(EMMA THOMPSON) and the omen of death known as the "Grim";
and breathtaking adventures, including clandestine visits
to the wizarding village of Hogsmeade, deciphering secrets
hidden in the enchanted Marauder's Map, and a terrifying
trip to the Shrieking Shack (the most haunted dwelling
in Britain).
Along the way, Harry will try to make sense of Hermione's
(EMMA WATSON) puzzling appearances and disappearances,
with the help of Ron (RUPERT GRINT) and the giant Hagrid
(ROBBIE COLTRANE), who has taken on a new position at
Hogwarts as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher.
A confrontation between Harry and the menacing Sirius
Black seems inevitable…but what exactly is Professor
Lupin's relationship with Black? What is the dark secret
that Professor Snape (ALAN RICKMAN) is so eager to reveal?
And just why is Ron's pet rat Scabbers so frantic to
escape his grasp?
Harry will need all of the courage, magic and support
he can muster to answer these questions and uncover
the truth behind Sirius Black and his ties to the gifted
young wizard's mysterious past.
Plot:-
Approaching his third year
at Hogwarts, Harry Potter has had enough of his muggle
relatives. He runs away from them (finally) and enters
his third term facing trouble from more than one side:
for using magic outside the school and from the news
that a notorious criminal, serial killer Sirius Black,
has escaped the wizard's prison at Azkaban and apparently
is headed for Harry. The school calls in supernatural
help against Black in the form of Dementors, but unusual
things continue to put Harry in peril. He is thrown
into a confusing panoply of shifting alliegences and
shifting shapes where nobody is who or what they seem.
Who is the real criminal? What is the real crime? Who
is telling or knows the truth?
What the critics
say:-
Harry Potter is growing
up! The voice is deepening, the shoulders are broadening
and...hurray! You no longer feel like a creep for having
a little crush on Daniel Radcliffe...whoops, did I say
that out loud? Say what you will, I see him making the
jump from child star to adult actor in a way that Haley
Joel Osment only dreams of.
Appropriately, this third
film in the Harry Potter series has matured along with
it's young stars. At first glance the storyline itself
is relatively simple - Sirius Black has escaped from
Azkaban Prison and young Harry is on his hit list. But
the reality is that this movie is about being a teenager
and all the trials and tribulations that go with it.
On one level, Harry is like any other kid at school
- he puts up with torment from bullies, gets into scrapes
with his teachers and hangs out with his friends. But
this is not just any school. This is Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry has a whole OTHER
set of problems. Like an escaped madman who may just
want to kill him, for example.
The plot contains the requisite
amounts of twists and turns. The focus is on Harry's
past - Sirius Black was his godfather but just may have
been in league with he who's name cannot be mentioned.
There is the usual game of 'are they or aren't they?'
when it comes to deciding which characters are really
the baddies. Alan Rickman continues to walk the finest
of lines between good and bad with his marvelous performance
as Professor Snape. Has there ever been a better match
of actor and character? Snape shows again that, while
he may take occasional delight in making his students'
lives difficult, he does have their best interests at
heart - like any good teacher. Other plot quirks worked
well - I enjoyed the way the time travel angle was worked
in and the map showing the location of everyone in Hogwarts
was a delight.
Visually, this is a much darker
film and it is a sumptuous treat for the eyes. There
is so much incredible detail in the sets that it's impossible
to absorb it all in one sitting. All the staples from
the other films are there - the paintings talk, the
staircases move, ghosts roam the halls - watch out for
the knights on horseback crashing through windows! The
special effects are all top notch. A word of caution
for any parents - there are some genuine scares here.
The Dementors are particularly nasty, and I would certainly
think twice about letting very young children watch
this film. This is without even considering it's running
time - two and a half hours - which is a very long time
to expect some children to sit still.
One of the most impressive
things about this film is the way that the young cast
are more sure of themselves. As Hermione, Emma Watson
grated in the first film with her occasional woodenness.
Pleasingly, she has grown into herself as an actor and
her performance here is much more mature. A leading
lady of the future, perhaps? Hermione is growing up
and is tired of being taken for an irritating goody-two
shoes know it all. Rupert Grint provides comic relief
and Daniel Radcliffe gives an outstanding performance,
considering the whole film rests on his shoulders. Harry
is the hero - the audience needs to identify with him.
By the end of this film teenage girls will want to take
him home to mother, while their mothers will just want
to take him home and adopt him!
New cast members aquit themselves
well. The role of Sirius Black was tailor made for Gary
Oldman - he has a requisite creepiness with just a dose
of humanity to bring the character to life. Daniel Thewlis
is good as Professor Lupin, the new Defense Against
the Dark Arts master who takes Harry under his wing.
Emma Thompson is amusing as a Divinity professor with
bad eyesight. She can see into the future but can't
tell which students are falling asleep in her class!
Many have criticised Michael
Gambon's performance as Dumbledore. While it's true
that he is no Richard Harris, I personally was pleased
that he didn't attempt to imitate his predecessor. Gambon
is accomplished enough a performer to stay true to the
character while at the same time putting his own stamp
on it.
Take away the magic and monsters,
and what you have is a coming of age movie. Harry is
forced to grow up and confront both his past and his
future, and come to terms with the reality that he is
no ordinary wizard. With the spectra of 'you know who'
continuing to loom on the horizon, roll on film four!
