I'm ROWLING over Rowling's new... book turned into a movie... or something...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the best the series has yet presented us with. While I was definitely a fan of the first one, I was rather unimpressed by its follow-up (as I was with the book, as well), but this, my friends... this is a work of art. With the first two films, I felt as if I was just being told a story in a fun way. Here, I really felt like I was experiencing something. As I was viewing it, I kept thinking to myself how... artistic the movie really was. And I don't find myself doing that with too many movies.

Alfonso Cuaron, the director, also was the director/co-writer of 2001's Y Tu Mama Tambien, which I can't pronounce. As you can see, I liked that movie, even though it didn't really mean anything. He also did "A Little Princess", which I haven't seen. And he said he can see similarities between Voldemort and George W. Bush, which is quite a bold statement... but hey, whatever floats your boat. Anyway, he is what makes this movie so outright enjoyable- the angles, the humor, the cinematography. He makes it all great. About that cinematography, what is so good about it? The other two films had this colorful cartooniness to them that sort of annoyed me. To give us a vivid, but dark world, Cuaron creates a certain "grainy lushness" so that things are sort of grainy, but at the same time, very full and complete, in an Apocalypse Now sort of way, and AN is possibly the most beautiful film ever to hit the screen.

Anyway... this Potter film also the most unique. Missing is your classic Dumbledore explanation at the end (and I could've sworn there was one in the book), replaced is a very abrupt ending (after an exhilarating climax); but I think that was all very appropriate for a story so dark. The story goes... Sirius Black is an evil dude. He escapes from Azkaban, which is the prison for bad wizards. And all this stuff happens. And supposedly he's after Harry Potter. And there's all this plot-expansion stuff.

But it's not worth explaining. If that all sounds difficult to you, trust me when I say it's pretty easy to follow. But really, I was barely focusing on the plot. I guess one could say the reason was because I already knew what was going to happen. I really don't think that's the case- I was so blown away but the coolness, and the suaveness of the film, that I just didn't really think about the plot. This is a great movie, kids. Some of the lines are so funny they nearly throw you into a seizure. And then, in the movie's most deathly serious moments, you can't help but be hypnotized by it. Cuaron makes sure that the CGI is as real as possible, instead of being rather obvious like with the first two movies. It is good, good filmmaking.

And I really hope these young actors really do stick around. For one, Radcliffe (who plays Potter) and Grint's (who plays Weasley, his friend) acting has really improved. I was rather stunned by some of the badness of the acting in the second movie, but they all do very well here, Grint being some of the best comic relief I've seen in a while. And Emma Watson (who plays Hermione)... I'm really starting to fall in love with her (no, not really). She is a fantastic actress, just capturing every scene she's in. I wouldn't mind having the next film being "Hermione Granger and the Goblet of Fire". I don't think anyone else would mind either.

As for this new Dumbledore? He seemed so much more different, but in a good way. I thought Richard Harris was a little better, seeming more relaxed and Dumbledore-y, but this one was more stern and directed; much more dominant. However, I think this was meant to be, as this is clearly the role Dumbledore takes in #5, and Michael Gambon is in the shape to be alive by then. Gary Oldman, as Black, fits the role better than I thought he would. He's usually a bizarre antagonist, but here, without the red hair and all... he looked exactly like I'd imagined.

So it all works out. "Prisoner of Azkaban" is the best Potter film yet.

Rating: A-

P.S.: I forgot to mention how blown away I was by the film's one Quidditch scene. It was the movie's best part; the storm just totally capturing the viewer. Brilliant.