The Adventures of Harry Potter during his third year at School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The dangerous criminal, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is after Harry (Daniel Radcliffe). The wraith-like guards of Azkaban have surrounded Hogwarts, and seem to be as interested in harming Harry as catching the escapee. Luckily, Professor Lupin (David Thewlis), the new defense against the dark arts teacher, has also taken an interest in Harry. As usual, Harry and his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), must discover the truth and put things right.
The differences are minor—a camera angle here, a crooked tie there—but it doesn’t take long for these to add up, making Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban the best of the three Harry Potter movies. Everything is so familiar, the great halls of Hogwarts, the young characters learning about themselves as they lean about magic, the fantastical creatures, yet it is all better. It doesn’t hurt that the three young leads have a few years of experience and maturity to aid their acting, or that CGI effects have advanced, creating a remarkably real Hippogriff (part horse, part eagle) in place of the first film’s rather pathetic centaur.
But while the minor improvements in almost everything help, it is the editing that makes this the first really satisfying Harry Potter film. I can’t say how much of that is due to editor Steven Weisberg and how much to new director Alfonso Cuarón (an odd choice as he is best known for his sexual, art house, road picture, Y Tu Mamá También, but an inspired one as a bit of edginess is all that was needed). What they do is finally integrate all the episodes in the film into one story. There’s never a moment when the plot stops to show off some special effect or cutesy moment (as was common in the first two films). Harry again has a dramatic escape from his home, but now, on the night bus, he learns something pertinent to the story—that Sirius Black is free. Yes, there’s another effects-filled Quidditch Match, but this time it isn’t just a chance to show off the CGI work. The ghostly dementors, an evil brought to Hogwarts due to Sirius Black’s escape, are involved, and for the first time, something actually exciting and dramatic is happening on those broomsticks.
While the crazed wizard, Black, is the other title character, it is Professor Lupin that gets the screen time, and he’s a slightly sad and complex person. I was dubious about David Thewlis taking on the role of mentor and protector (have you watched The Island of Dr. Moreau?), but my concern was misplaced. Thewlis infuses the film with more heart than the previous outings, without being saccharine.
It’s not a perfect movie, but the only significant problems come from the source material, not the adaptation. There are still far too many coincidences and contrivances. The tension in the film is built around a situation that Harry should have been told about (but then most of the suspense would vanish). Several people know the truth about what caused his parents’ death, but they let him go on with an incorrect assumption which causes him greater emotional pain than the facts would, and creates huge problems. It’s irritating that at least some excuse couldn’t have been found to explain keeping Harry in the dark. But none is, which left me shaking my head at the end. Still, the other aspects win out, making this a good time for all, provided you don’t think too much toward the end.
The other films in the series are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.