Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
By Aine

I know this is not a horror movie; it’s not even a science fiction movie. It’s a children’s fantasy movie, and you know what? I don’t care; I’m going to review it anyway. I LOVE the Harry Potter series, I love the books, I love the little supplemental books, I love the movies, and I especially love the latest one: The Prisoner of Azkaban.

This time there’s a new director at the helm, and he did well. Not that the first two films were bad, but they definitely had slow moments. I always feel guilty when I’m at a movie and I look at my watch, but sometimes it happens. Not in this film. I stared, jaw agape, at the screen for the entire two plus hours, and then desperately wished for more. So much so that I even stayed through the entire credit sequence; which was quite an accomplishment seeing as how I’m pretty sure the entire United Kingdom worked on Azkaban.

The kids are bigger, and I mean BIGGER now…they’re supposed to be thirteen year olds, me thinks I’ve spotted something akin to breasts on young Hermione, and the voices of Harry and Ron are deeper than some adult men I know. Despite puberty, I still believe that these kids are the PERFECT ones for the roles, and if they were to be replaced I would have a very difficult time adjusting. Especially Ron (Rupert Grint), in both books and films I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Ron and the Weasly clan. I’m pretty fond of Fred and George too.

This brings me to the new Dumbledore, played by Michael Gambon. He’ll take some getting used to on my part, and from what I hear, many other people are having the same problem. It could be my loyalty to the late Richard Harris, but I just didn’t feel anything with Gambon the way I did with Harris in the role. He seemed odd and disconnected, and something about his eyes was bothering me. I’m hoping he will grow on me in the subsequent Harry Potter films where Dumbledore has more to do.

The effects are better this time around, with Buckbeak the Hippogriff leading the game. Perhaps it was PMS, but when Harry first flies away on Buckbeak, a tear came to my eye, and of course later scenes involving the winged beast also made me weep. I don’t want to give things away for those who haven’t seen it or read the books. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll be disturbed by the use of ferrets.

Gary Oldman as Sirius black is PURE genius. My only qualm with the entire picture was the lack of background on Sirius’ character. He’s a favorite of mine, but I’m assuming the director will elaborate in the next film, Goblet of Fire. I can hardly wait!