17 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
Harry Potter: Back... With A Vengeance
Date of Review: Jun 6, 2004
The Bottom Line: Not as good, but still worth the while. Harry Potter Rocks!
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) has had a hard summer and it's much worse now. The Dursleys, Vernon (Richard Griffiths, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Petunia (Fiona Shaw, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), and Dudley (Harry Melling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) have invited Aunt Marge (Pam Ferris, Death to Smoochy, Matilda) to stay for the summer. While having a fight with her about his parents, Harry accidentally makes Marge blow up like a balloon and float away. Afterwards, full of rage and anger, Harry runs to his room, packs his trunk, and leaves number 4 Privet Drive. While sitting on a curb in Magnolia Crescent, Harry spies a big black dog coming towards him. He pulls out his wand, and suddenly, a huge triple-decker bus appears, whisking him away to the Leaky Cauldron.
On board the Knight Bus (the triple-decker Harry encounters), Harry learns about the escaped murderer wizard Sirius Black (Gary Oldman, Hannibal, Lost In Space) and his crime: Twelve years earlier, he had killed twelve Muggles (non-magical people) and one wizard for Lord Voldemort. Scary as it is, Harry does not know the true nature of Black's escape from Azkaban, the wizarding world's most secure prison. However, he will soon find out.
Once at the Leaky Cauldron, he is seen by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Sense and Sensibility). Expecting to be expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry is instead said to stay in the Leaky Cauldron and not wander about until school begins. He also meets his friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). He also finds out why Black escaped from Azkaban: He is out to kill Harry himself. Knowing to be careful, Harry and his friends set out for Hogwarts.
On the Hogwarts Express, Harry, Hermione, and Ron meet their new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin (David Thewlis, Timeline, Dragonheart), in their carriage. While on the way to Hogwarts, the train stops quite unexpectedly. Suddenly, all the lights go out and the windows freeze up. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all look towards the door of their cabin to see it slide open by a grisly hand attached to the form of a dementor, the terrifying guards of Azkaban Prison who feed on the fears of all wizards. As the dementor enters the cabin, Harry faints after Lupin awakes and sends the dementor out of the cabin. Even though this is only one dementor, Harry can expect to encounter many more.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban lives up to the reputation of its predecessors diligently, having the original cast back with the exception of the late Richard Harris, who played Albus Dumbledore in the two previous movies. Taking his spot as the headmaster of Hogwarts is Sir Michael Gambon (Open Range, Sleepy Hollow), who plays Dumbledore like a pro. Continuing their previous roles are Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall, Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape, Robbie Coltrane as newly appointed Care of Magical Creatures professor Rubeus Hagrid, Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, Oliver and James Phelps as George and Fred Weasley, Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley, Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley, and Julie Walters as Molly Weasley. Joining the cast for the first time in this exciting film are Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Treasure Planet) as Professory Sybil Trelawney, Dawn French (The Adventures of Pinocchio) as the Gryffindor Fat Lady, Timothy Spall (The Last Samurai, Vanilla Sky) as Peter Pettigrew, and Julie Christie (Troy, Dragonheart) as Madame Rosmerta. With this wonderful cast, the film could not have been better.
Well, maybe it could have been a tiny bit better. In this film, many things have changed. For one, we have a new director: Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Great Expectations) rather than Chris Columbus. Another thing is the settings on some locations in the film have changed from the others, such as Hagrid's house or the Whomping Willow. Something else is that the movie misses some key elements from the book, like Harry winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor for the first time in seven years or the background on who Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail, and Moony are. Plus, some characters from the other two movies, such as Oliver Wood, Colin Creevey, and Madam Pomfrey are missing in this film. Other than that, the movie stay very true to the book.
Still, this movie continues the Harry Potter legacy of excellence in other ways. One such way is the special effects. This movie has SFX galore with the Whomping Willow, Buckbeak the hippogriff (a half-horse, half-eagle creature), and most especially, the dementors. Those things were terrifying! Another is the script. The characters were very believable and lived up to all of my expectations. Kudos to J. K. Rowling for making such a movie as this possible from her novels!
This movie is rated PG for some language and scary scenes. However, this does not make it an adult-only movie. In fact, I whole-heartedly recommend you bring the kids along to see it! It is a great family film, although it is darker than the other two films. So sit back, relax, and brush up on your Patronus Charm. You're in for a movie that grips you like the feel of a Firebolt!
