Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban



Starring: Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Daniel Radcliffe

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Produced by: Warner Bros., 1492 Pictures, Heyday Films

Distributed by: Warner Bros.

Genre: fantasy

Xibo's grade:

A-

Average grade:

A-

 


A- A- A-
Review by Xibo Date seen: June 1, 2004
Viewing Location: Upper West Side IMAX, NYC Grade: A-
Summary: Really good! Loved the soundtrack.
(Lucky me, we got free tickets to an early screening of the movie!) John Williams (Star Wars) did the score. Thankfully the storyline was different from the first two films, which were almost identical to each other. It was nice to see the characters do new things. I was a tad disappointed by the time travel gimmick, but I guess that's what I get for not having read the books, right? And the lycanthrope thing, man, could have given us any *more* clues? Sheesh! Nonetheless, it was a very fun film to watch, with excellents effects and beautiful scenery. Seems like the landscape around Hogwarts only looks better with time!

We saw this at the IMAX, which gave us wonderful picture quality and excellent sound. The screen there is gigantic, and some people got headaches... it's like everyone is sitting in the first four rows of a normal theater, because the screen is eight stories tall! 


A- A- A-
Review by Finrod Date seen: June 5, 2004
Viewing Location: AMC Parkway Pointe 15, Cumberland, ATL Grade: A-
Summary: Good book->movie adaptation, oddly different from the first 2 movies
While it was nice seeing more of the scenery around Hogwarts, and good seeing the main characters in different situations and outfits (Malfoy now reminds me of a surfer kid), the movie was oddly incongruent with the first two-- Hagrid's hut is now 2 rooms instead of 1, and at the bottom of a hill instead of across a short stretch of grass from Hogwart's. Plus there didn't seem to be as much of a dramatic build-up to the ending in this one as there was in the first two. But the effects were amazing, and the adaptation from book to movie was handled well. I'm looking forward to more movies in this series-- but will Rowling get the 7th book written in time to make the 7th movie?

After rewatching on movie channels (and having Goblet to compare it to), I've raised my grade from B+ to A-. Even though it's different than the book, the whole movie endgame starting with the kids going down to see Hagrid and Buckbeak is very well-done and internally consistent.  

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