Review: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron
2.5 stars (out of 4)
It's not that Harry isn't trying to break out of the childish mold in which he's been cast; he's just not trying hard enough.
"There's more story in the book than on the movie screen," Potter's defendants are quick to offer. And undoubtedly there is: just ask any true Tolkien fan about the double edge of cinematic adaptation and literary abridgement for a real horror story. Then again, Tolkien's seminal novel influenced countless others, while J.K. Rowling only seems to influence the spending habits of her fans' parents.
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban, the third film adaptation from what will be a seven-book series, finds our hero another year older, ready to begin another year at Hogwarts and embark on another adventure that will probably again wrap up around finals week in May. If only real life had been so kind.
Fed up with life at his aunt and uncle's house, Harry welcomes the return of school. However, he soon learns that evil wizard Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is on the hunt for Harry. Harry has no idea why Black wants to find him, but knowing Rowling and the series, there's probably more than one awkward expository scene headed our way.
The new year also brings a new professor, Lupin (David Thewlis), who, though kind and energetic, is obviously hiding something from the outset. Will his fate and Harry's coincide, I wonder?
Believe it or not, those are the only plot points I feel comfortable discussing without revealing too much of the story.
Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien) takes the film and series in an enjoyable direction here: muted colors, genuinely frightening images and characters that are finally beginning to show some semblance of genuine depth take Azkaban a level above, as well as beyond, the previous two films.
That said, the film is still one for children, though the haunting images of the Dementors, guards of Azkaban prison, may keep out the very young ones. So many of the characters, from Harry's guardian family to playground nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), seem to actually relish the two-dimensional plot progression that is the sole reason for their existence. Malfoy doesn't hate Harry for any reason other than Rowling knew Harry needed a human enemy to keep him busy, so Malfoy fumes and rants and wanders aimlessly from scene to scene.
And Cuaron, gifted though he is, can only do so much with a script inevitably culled from a more thorough novel that culminates in an anticlimactic time travel bit that doesn't hold a drop of water.
But who am I kidding? The prime audience for such fare doesn't care about such structural inadequacies or regrettable puns (thankfully few here). Harry saves the day and gets a new broom: all is once again right with the world.
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