Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Published 2015-01-13
Film info
- Title Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Year 2004
- Run time 2hr 22m
- Genres Adventure, Fantasy
- Tagline Something wicked this way comes
- Cast Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, Dawn French, Julie Walters
Harry, Ron and Hermione, now teenagers, return for their third year at Hogwarts, where they are forced to face escaped prisoner Sirius Black, who poses a great threat. Harry must overcome the threats of the soul-sucking Dementors, outsmart a dangerous werewolf and finally deal with the truth about Sirius Black and his relationship to Harry and his parents. With his best friends, Harry masters advanced magic, crosses the barriers of time and changes the course of more than one life.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:27 | The whole under the bedcovers thing is just like any teenager, not a wizarding thing at least. |
| 5:08 | Knocked out by flying buttons, that's an embarrassing way to go. |
| 13:06 | I wondered where the bird had got to. |
| 13:30 | "Properly punctured and her memory modified." |
| 17:56 | You tend not to think of the bad pictures, when it comes to moving pictures. Just nice ones of Harry's parents, rather than scary prisoners in jail. |
| 21:38 | In my head, Dementors were always like the last ghost in Muppet's Christmas Carol. |
| 24:29 | Hogwarts has a choir? |
| 27:33 | Love Dawn French. |
| 30:11 | And Emma Thompson. Best film so far. |
| 37:09 | I'm the king of the world! |
| 40:58 | I do think Ron and Harry might have noticed something up with Hermione sooner. |
| 43:55 | Who changes a snake into a clown? That's worse. |
| 57:40 | That whomping willow is definitely a grumpy ol' thing. |
| 1:03:51 | Hagrid is just a little bit like the Hulk. |
| 1:16:50 | Wands seem like awfully powerful devices to just use as torches. |
| 1:23:56 | Hermoine goes rogue. Epic punching. |
| 1:32:16 | She is a bright witch, but Snape made it about as obvious as it could be. |
| 1:38:09 | Ron is such a drama queen. Bless. |
| 1:49:01 | Oh god I want a time turner. |
| 2:00:08 | Note to self, always make friends with the hippogriff. |
Thoughts
Up there in the notes, I said this was the best film so far, of the three we have watched, and I think that's true. It was starting to build the over-arching story, rather than just have the standalone mysteries and adventures for each film. It had some great casting and cameos, Dawn French and the shattered wine glass being a particular highlight.
For me, as well, it had the additional time travel which I loved enormously in the book and translated very well to the screen. You could certainly tell the difference between this and the previous two, a new director, a new tone, things starting to get more adult and darker as the series goes along.
It was also nice to see the kids growing up, rather than them being little squiddly cute things, they started to properly look like the people they would become. A good entry.
Rating: 4 / 5
