Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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Plot Summary:
Harry starts his third year at Hogwarts and finds the school in a state of fear after a convicted murderer escapes from Azkaban prison and is said to be coming after Harry himself. Much magic-using and time-traveling ensues...
Opinion:
The third Harry Potter movie marks a new beginning to the series: a new director, a new visual look, and a new philosophy towards book-to-film adaptation. While the first two movies were very faithful copies of their respective books (almost page-for-page), the filmmakers were soon faced with the problem of each successive Harry Potter book being longer than the one before it. Since four or five hour runtimes weren't an option for future movies, the screenwriter for “Prisoner” had a tough job to do in cutting sections out of the third book in order to create a reasonable length film...but without making the narrative incoherent in the meantime, of course.
Considering the difficult cuts that had to be made, it's understandable that many Harry Potter fans were ambivalent at best about this, the third movie, since they are very cognizant of what was left out. I, however, having
not read the third book (nor any of them) do not have that difficulty, and I'm quite happy to say that the third is by far the best movie in the series to date. The visual look and feel of the movie is more 'adult' than the first two, the film is better paced (due no doubt to leaving many of
the expositive parts of the book aside). The writing is better, too--and
I'm happy to say the areas in which I
complained mightily about the first two movies as far as plotting and behavior have been rectified. (See the In-depth Analysis for a report card...)
Harry Potter is growing up now (as, obviously, are the actors), and there's more of a sense of 'character' this time around. While the first two movies basically had Harry standing around while things happened around him, this time the adventures seem to affect him personally more, and he is more emotive and ‘real’ as a result. (It also helps that he plays a more active role in this movie than in the previous ones). His friends, Ron and Hermione are back (also noticeably older) providing friendship and support when Harry needs it.
The visual style has changed, and in this film the settings and images are more artistic and less 'cartoonish'
than the first two. There are a lot of scary things in this movie, too--none more
so than the 'dementors' that wander around the landscape and suck the souls out of those who get in their way. I'd imagine they would give nightmares to very young children, although those that have read the book and know what happens will
probably be insulated enough.
Admittedly, the movie isn't perfect: there's a lot that isn't explained about the events of the movie (but
most likely in the book) such as how Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban in the first place, and the underlying history behind the Shrieking Shack and the magic map Harry comes to possess, but none of the missing details take away from the movie’s narrative significantly. Another possible flaw is that the 'villain' of the movie isn't introduced until nearly the end, and even then has only a brief, insignificant appearance before disappearing again. (I'm presuming he comes back into play in future books...) Still, this is the best Harry Potter movie yet, and despite my earlier ambivalence, I'm starting to see what the ‘fuss’ is about in a sense, and am looking forward to future chapters...
Content Analysis: (PG, 2-0-1-0 on the Baron's scale)
The scary images are probably the biggest concern for children watching, but then if you've read the book you know that no one is really in any danger... Those who oppose Harry Potter in general due to the use of witchcraft probably aren't going to change their minds here either--although the magic in this movie (involving shape changing and time travel) is for the most part even more far-fetched than usual, and I seriously doubt anyone is going to take it seriously, no matter how young. (It should be noted that some ‘magic’ is very much based in reality, such as divining the future through tea leaves, although the teacher who is responsible for this class isn’t really presented with a high level of credibility…)
In-depth Analysis:
My complaints about the first two Harry Potter movies were many, and it's refreshing to see that virtually all of them have been alleviated in the third. Let's go through my major complaints and see how things are different.
Harry Potter being a passive hero: Harry takes a more active role in the events of this adventure, and even uses his magic too. (A rarity in the first two films...)
The 'Deus ex machina' resolution: In this movie there is one scene where Harry is saved by a magical phenomenon appearing suddenly (by the pond when he and Sirius are attacked by dementors), but it is explained later in the movie (and shown to be Harry himself) so that's not a problem. (See? It's easy to resolve plot difficulties without 'cheating' if you try...)
The poor behavior of the adults: No complaints here. Dumbledore doesn't cancel finals again, nor does Hagrid send Harry into dangerous situations for his own selfish purposes. In fact, Dumbledore himself saves Harry after he falls off his broom during the Quidditch match--a welcome change, since the teachers seemed to sit around and do nothing most of the time during the previous matches when things went awry...
(And no, I still don't think Quidditch makes any more sense now than it did when
it was introduced, but the match only plays a small part in this movie. Harry flies for quite a distance outside of the stadium chasing the snitch, though...how are the people in the stadium supposed to watch him, then? You'll recall that the snitch chasing is the only significant part of Quidditch matches--there's certainly no reason to watch anyone else...)
The third Harry Potter is, in fact, almost completely free of stupid plot contrivances which is one of the main reasons it is the best in the series. (I say
almost, because in this one we're asked to accept that Hogwarts freely lets students risk their lives flying high in the air
on brooms for sport, and regularly play with deadly magic spells and dangerous creatures...yet they need a permission slip to go
walking around the nearby village? That makes a lot of sense...)
One thing I do wonder about (and maybe this is explained in the book too...): Harry attacks Professor Snape in the Shrieking Shack...which oddly has absolutely no repercussions for him later when everyone is back at Hogwarts (no one even mentions it again…). Harry knows the truth about Sirius, of course, but no one else does, and you'd think Harry would find himself in a spot of trouble for attacking a teacher without any apparent justification. (Even with justification, perhaps…) Harry, in fact, uses his magic recklessly at the beginning of the movie with his aunt, for which he also avoids any kind of responsibility... This probably wouldn't be the best lesson for kids...but of course they don't know the magic to blow people up like a balloon, anyway...
Random Notes and Comments:
(1) It would be nice to keep the same actors through all seven movies,
of course, but I can't see how it's going to be possible considering the
sixth and seventh books haven't even been written yet. The actors are going to be in their 20's before the seventh movie gets ready for filming...
