June 4, 2004
Warner Bros.
Fantasy, Drama, Comedy
DVD
A-
The Harry Potter regulars this time include (*means newbie to the series):
- Peter Best as the Executioner*
- David Bradley as Argus Filch
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
- Violet Columbus as Girl With Flowers
- Warwick Davis as "Wizard" (see below)
- Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
- Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore*
- Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
- Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
- Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
- Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
- Devon Murray as Seamus Finnegan
- Gary Oldman as Sirius Black*
- James Phelps as Fred Weasley
- Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
- Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
- Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
- Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia
- Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
- Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew*
- Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin*
- Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
- Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
- Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
My review of the book is here
http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/11/harry-potter-and-prisoner-of-azkaban.html, but you'll note that I don't regard this as a children's movie in the way that that was a children's book. This is very much a movie about a younger teen and his two best friends starting to really navigate their way through a more complex world. The switch in directors also contributes to a less wide-eyed, warier tone.
As for that jump from B to A-, well, I thought then and continue to think that this is not only the best film in the series, but the only one that is on a level with The Wizard of Oz. Everything is better-- the special effects, the acting, and the music in particular. (Williams captures all the moods, from bittersweet to whimsical.) Even the closing credits are much more creative than elsewhere in the series.
Radcliffe is making more effort, not always successfully ("HE WAS THEIR FRIEND" is notorious in fandom), but much better than under Columbus, while Grint and Watson continue to be solid, even as puberty complicates their bickering relationship. And all the Gambon-bashers who are bitter about the loss of Richard Harris should take another look at his work here, which is much subtler and deeper than in the fourth film. I also have to make special mention of Thewlis, who is just perfect as the avuncular but flawed Professor Lupin. The only person who seems to be short-changed is poor Bonnie Wright with her one line as Ginny. And the only one who is oddly treated is Warwick Davis, who apparently had nothing to do as Flitwick this time and so became the Choir Teacher, which would have a long-lasting effect on the appearance and to some degree character of Flitwick for the rest of the series, as I'll discuss under Goblet.
As for the special effects, it's partly that the CGI and other aspects had two and a half years to advance, but also that Cuarón and his crew are being more creative with them, as with the utterly believable Buckbeak, the Hippogriff who expresses everything from anger to affection to, well, defecation.
Interestingly, when I first saw the trailer for this entry, I had almost the opposite reaction to the trailer for the first. I thought they'd really screwed up this time. So it was a revelation when I saw the actual movie, which, yes, has a tone that takes some getting used to but is well worth the initial disorientation. (And that the film starts with a tasteful masturbation joke was part of the surprise.) I think the movie continues to hold up remarkably well, both within the series and as a stand-alone. I was always disappointed that Cuarón did not return, but David Yates would make contributions of his own. As for Mike Newell, well, stay tuned.
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