HP & Prisoner of Azkaban - Review

[dkstories]

Well, I went to the first showing this morning and was teary-eyed for about two hours after the show.

 

Prisoner of Azkaban wasn't my favorite of the books, but it IS my favorite of the movies so far. Daniel Radcliffe, in my opinion, captured the pain, the anger, and the pure unadultered fury of Harry Potter perfectly. Frankly, I can't wait to see what he does with Book 5. I think people are going to like it a lot more once they see it on the screen.

 

"I hope he does find, because when he does I'm going to KILL HIM."

 

That was...spine-tingling, as was were the softer, more friendly conversations between Remus and Harry about his parents.

 

How the anger transferred from Sirius to Pettigrew in the Shack was absolutely beautiful. Even more wonderful was the moment when Harry accepted that it wasn't his father that had saved him earlier, but himself, and all that dove-tailed from that understanding. I also enjoyed the look on Harry's face when he looked at the 'note' from Malfoy.

 

Trelawney was delightfully batty, and Dumbledore was good (the new guy). Lupin was...perfect, as was Snape (in fact I'd say this film was the first that really gave him his due on-screen). Ron was wonderfully Ron, and Hermione..YEOW. Watch out for that girl in the future (I especially liked "So that's what my hair looks like from behind!")

 

Sirius was played perfectly. When the time comes for OoTP to be made into a film, I expect not a dry eye in the theatre. The moments between Harry and him were absolutely wonderful, from the throat strangling to the quiet talk by the Whomping Willow.

 

Buckbeak was on-screen so much more than what I had imagined from the books. The first time he flies with Harry was absolutely special, and that made the subsequent scene with Draco all the more delicious. The kids around me whimpered when they saw the axe fall, and I might have if I didn't know what really happened.

 

From the beginning we saw something in Harry that's been missing on screen from the first two movies. His raw emotionalism was what this movie needed, and made it so good. From the beginning with Aunt Marge as he bristled in outrage, anger, and pride about his parents, this was the Harry Potter I've been wanting to see for a while. The sadness and anger after hearing what everyone thought Sirius Black had done to his parents was so...strong that my eyes were full of tears at that point, and the helplessness of Hermione and Ron to deal with those emotions was a great foreshadowing of what is to come. They can help him, they can support him, but they don't understand what he feels because they've never really suffered the loss like he has.

 

Yes, there were changes from the book, as there must be in any adaptation. There were small moments, special moments, funny things, etc. that didn't make it to the screen, but you know what? I don't miss them too much. Yes, the firebolt did not come at Christmas, but so WHAT? The story was well-told, well-made, and contained every major thing needed from the original book.

 

It was special, magical, and yes there were tears on my face and a soft smile as well when I walked out of the theatre. In fact, I have some writing to do now, because the biggest block in finishing my HP fanfic has just been taken of by seeing this movie. Now I know how to write that scene I could never figure out.

[Pyro]

Hehe I just saw it tonight. I must say I LOVED the film. It was darker but it followed with how the story line went. All of the actors and actresses really have come into there charecters. I must say I do believe that this truely is the best HP film yet. According to Tom Felton's sight they are already working on part 4. Hehe so of course I can't wait to see how that is going to turn out. This was such a cooll movie.

 

Pyro :-)

[Myr]

I'll be leaving in about 20 min to go see it.

and I'm already writing again on PoD, something I've had a block on for too long.

[Myr]

yup... it was great! I have a few irriatations, but they are more nitpicky than anything else.

 

Just who the hell replaced Crabbe/Goyle in the later parts of the movie? There was one of the behemoths and a cute skinny Slytherin...

[dkstories]

Yeah, I noticed that too, Crabbe/Goyle are NOT supposed to be cute and cuddly. That one I just wanted to cuddle while ravaging Draco...Oh nevermind.

[Myr]

mmmmm :snork:

[Myr]

found an interesting poster for the movie...

[BillM]

Looks awsome, especially Draco's eyes

[sesshomaru]

Well now I want to see this movie even more. Well to bad they will be getting rid of the actors that did Harry, Ron Hermione because by the time they get to the 4th or maybe 5th book they will be to old.

[dkstories]

Actually they are filming the fourth here real soon...with the same actors.

[Taryn Winterblade]

I thought it was said somewhere around here that they had signed those three for 5, 6 and 7 as well... but I may have misread...

[Myr]

They are currently filming number 4 and have been for a couple of months now.

 

WB was so impressed with the kids this time around they want them to do the rest of the movies, but that will demand that Ms. Rowling get her ass in gear and actually finish writing the last two books.

[Taima Matsumushi]

Yes, she is really running out of time on that point. ^^;;

 

I just saw it two nights ago, and I was really impressed. My friend didn't recognize half the cast, and thought they had been replaced (it was especially hilarious to see his reaction when he saw Tom Felton's name under "Draco" in the credits). I noticed that Goyle was different at the end (was it supposed to be Goyle? I recognized Crabbe: the shorter, chibbier one) I think I have those two names straight, anyway. Let me know if I've got them switched.

 

There isn't much that I noticed that hasn't already been said, other than I've also heard that the same cast is going to be used in the next movie (at least), barring some unforseen disaster.

 

OT: Sorry I haven't been around lately, summer school and constant work has been draining most of my time. Plus, the only internet connection in the house is way out of the way, so I haven't been using it very often. Needless to say, such an environment sucks for writing as well, but I'm cautiously optimistic about bringing out chapter 4 of Talents by Sunday. :-) It's great to be back, such as it'll be.

[Gentim]

I saw the movie yesterday after work and came away impressed with the movie. I could definitely see the difference in director's styles. In Azkaban, the kids were in a more modern setting. Jeans and t-shirts were more in evidence, and even if they weren't, the kids looked more like your typlical teenager even when in uniform. The kids also had more "fun" in this film. One scene reminded me of a gathering of friends blowing off steam rather then some of the more formal settings of the first two films. I liked it!

 

Even the new characters of Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) and Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) were very close to how I imagined them from the books. Some have already remarked how the scenes between Harry and Lupin were among the most emotional ones in the picture, and I agree. But the scene between Sirius and Harry, when they discuss the possibility of Harry living with his godfather almost brought tears to more than one person's eyes.

 

I would recommend that anybody who can, go see the film. It's highly entertaining and well worth the price of admission.

[Gentim]

I would hope that the actors would stick around for all of the films in the series. I woiuld think that the ones that they have to make quickly are for books 4, 5, and 6 (yet to be written). It's hard to play 14, 15 and 16 yr old characters when you're 18, 19 and 20; which seems to be the pace the movies and books are on at times. If I hadn't known who was playing Draco Malfoy even for this movie, I would have thought they had changed actors. Teenagers change alot growing up. And the older actors aren't getting any younger either. We lost Richard Harris (Dumbledore in the first two films) when he died. So hurry up Ms. Rowling! Get those books done so the movies can be made with the same actors.