Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004): **** out of ****
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Screenplay by Steven Kloves, based on the
novel
by J.K. Rowling. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint,
Robbie
Coltrane, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie
Smith,
David Thewlis, and Emma Thompson.
by Andy Keast
J.K. Rowling has been hailed as a new Roald Dahl, and her novels being the
adventures of Harry Potter, a character now as iconic as Luke Skywalker or
Indiana Jones, have been compared to everything from Dahl's "Charlie and
the
Chocolate Factory" to "The Wizard of Oz." As a series of films, it will
end
up
more like today's version of the James Bond adventures: each story arc is
a
Scooby-Doo plot, heightened by charming characters, imagination, and
suspense.
Some five to six years from now, I have a feeling that "Harry Potter and
the
Prisoner of Azkaban" will be its "Goldfinger," regarded as the best -or at
least among the best- of the series. It's intelligent and at times
stirring
entertainment, with something that many children's films don't have:
*cajones.*
This movie dares to take it's young characters seriously, and to have
menace.
"Azkaban"'s Scooby-Doo story involves a convict who, as with all of
series'
opponents, is mixed up in the past of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and
has
had something to do with the death of his parents. The convict is Sirius
Black
(Gary Oldman), and he is first person to escape from Azkaban Prison, where
naughty wizards are apparently sent. He is sought by the Dementors, which
are
towering, wraithlike creatures who somehow consume the joy right out of a
person's being. I could use this ****tion of the review to segue into a
political joke, but I won't. The stock company to Rowling's universe
returns:
Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon, filling in for the late Richard Harris),
Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith), the laconic and goofy Snape (Alan
Rickman)
and the hirsute Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), who is now teaching cl*****.
New
additions include Professor Sybil Trelawney (Emma Thompson) and Professor
Lupin
(David Thewlis). Again, the Potter series mirrors the Bond series by
continuously building it's pantheon of British actors.
The director, Mexican-born Alfonso Cuarón, has a unique visual
sensibility,
and brings more to the material than Chris Columbus did previously. He's
made
a children's movie before (1995's "A Little Princess," which is
fantastic),
and
his interpretation of Azkaban is in many ways transformational. There are
things happening in every visual and aural corner of the frame. Cuarón
introduces iris-ins and -outs, sepiatone, hand-held, grainer photography,
and
cameras that move fluidly through mirrors and windows. It doesn't have
the
polish of the first two, but it doesn't want to either. There are
distinctly
Hispanic touches throughout the movie as well, such as Mexican skull candy
in
a
confection shop. I also loved how, for those who are accustomed to the
movie's
logic, the magic wand has evolved into Rowling's version of a gun.
The score by John Williams also breaks new ground, incor****ating elements
of
vintage jazz, church music, Celtic folk music, the lute and the
harpsichord.
The witches' dialogue from "Macbeth" ("…fire burn and cauldron bubble…")
has been transformed into song lyrics, and there is a tem****al-spacial
sequence
where the ticking of a clock is heard underneath the action. This is some
of
the best music John Williams has written in years.
I did enjoy the first two films, though the storylines of which may be
somewhat
inchoate. "Azkaban" moves past Rowling's world and the Hogwarts school
and
focuses on the characters, creating a great deal of depth for a children's
film. The kids are eccentric (note the movie's last spoken line) and are
seen
in everyday clothes, the humor isn't forced, and there's realistic ***ual
tension. The film contains some genuinely intense and scary moments, such
as
when Harry first opens a literally monstrous book, and we learn more of
the
darker side of Harry's personality. It reminded me of children's films
that
were made some twenty years ago, when filmmakers knew that kids could
handle
relatively frightening or complex material, and weren't afraid to show it.
Hop
onto the internet and you can see "Azkaban" referred to as everything from
"an
abomination" and "one of the worst films in cinema history." Did we see
the
same movie?
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X-RAMR-ID: 37957
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1287486
X-RT-TitleID: 1132921
X-RT-AuthorID: 9883
X-RT-RatingText: 4/4
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