Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Year: 2004
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Country: US
Language: English

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the life of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main plot point revolves around the Manson-like Voldemort and his desire to destroy anybody who stands in his way of becoming immortal. Since the late 90's Harry Potter has taken the world by storm; becoming critical and commercially successful as both book and film adaptation. 

Prisoner of Azkaban covers  Harry's third year at Hogwarts; not only does he have a new "Defense Against the Dark Arts" teacher, but there is also trouble brewing. Convicted murderer Sirius Black has escaped the Wizards' Prison and is coming after Harry. 

While I'm not particularly a fan of Harry Potter, I must admit that the third film in the series took me by surprise. The first two films were conventional movies that relied far too heavily on sentimentality, employed conservative direction, and lacked artistry in cinematic terms, but Prisoner of Azkaban is a breath of fresh air in comparison. Alfonso Cuaron creates a wonderfully dark, grayish atmosphere that bursts with energy and mystery. 

For the first time in the series, it's as if the setting is a character unto itself. In addition we get much more mature characters who seem to better fit Rowling's initial themes regarding adulthood and sacrifice. Unlike the first two films, the CGI ("hey look at this!") is secondary to the story. Even in scenes that contain a fair amount of special effects, we are far more emotionally involved in the characters and their situation rather than "Wow that looks cool!".

Prisoner of Azkaban has a great balance of light and dark. There are many unsettling moments, but it also has a fair amount of joy. Considering Cuaron made Y Tu Mama Tambien, I was quite surprised to hear that he would be working on this picture. His artistic genius proved to be magical however, as he brought me the only Harry Potter film worth watching.