Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (PG) Review

Overall Rating

Unfortunately, the good points are few and far between. Nice scenery which had little if nothing to do with the book. Wonderful Buckbeak. Superb acting from all concerned - the kids have matured as actors admirably.

Even his magnificent acting couldn't disguise the dreadful miscasting of Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. The special effects were very bad in parts - particularly the werewolf and the dog Sirius. A good half of the story was missing so that some complete fabrications were necessary to make the it scan.

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban - The wonderful magical tingle that Chris Columbus worked so hard to instill into the first two films is completely missing from PoA giving it almost an Enid Blyton-esque feel of "Three Go to Hogwarts". In places important pieces of storyline have been dropped, e.g., Sirius's night-time knife attack of Ron and even complete fabrications - Harry's following of Pettigrew on the Marauder's map.
The settings for Hogwarts are truly beautiful. Unfortunately, they bear no similarity to the book in layout and will cause major problems in future films unless they are discontinued. By way of example, Hagrid's hut cannot continue to cling precariously to a steep mountainside. There has to be a large clear, reasonably flat area of lawn between the main castle doors and Hagrid's hut. It is the stage for several future important events.
It is inevitable that everyone will have their own idea of what should have been kept and what should have been dropped from the book. However, what was dropped from this film could have formed the basis for a complete alternative production. For example, there is more Quiddich in this book than any other. It is Oliver Wood's finest hour! It must have taken great skill to pare it all away with the exception of the match where Harry meets the Dementors. It did rather make a nonsense of Harry's devotion to the game.
Best to put this one down to experience, perhaps, and look forward to 'Goblet of Fire'.