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dvd.review.harry.potter.and.the.prisoner.of.azkaban |
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 02 January 2005 14:20 |
"For in dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."
 Movie
After three solid movies and five solid books, some people still
write off Harry Potter movies as kids stuff. Part of me thinks that
writing a review to this movie is pointless because most of you who
read this have already made your minds up as to whether or not you
enjoy the Potter franchise.
Unlike the first two movies which were directed by Christoper Columbus,
the Prisoner of Azkaban was directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Cuaron's only
previous work that I'd ever seen was "Y Tu Mama Tambien" which was
probably... check that, certainly too racy for typical fans of the
Harry Potter crowd. What he brought to the movie, though, was a
completely new look and feel, especially to Hogwarts.
The Prisoner of Azkaban picks up right where the last two left off.
Harry and friends are beginning their third year at Hogwarts. Everyone
is one edge, though, because murderer Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has
escaped from Azkaban prison which no one has ever done before. Harry is
warned to be especially cautious because it is rumored that Sirius
Black assisted You Know Who in killing Harry's parents.
Starting with the third book and subsequently the third movie, who
whole feel of the Potter franchise starts to turn darker and darker.
Part of the reason it feels darker is because Harry is starting to get
older and go through all the normal teenage drama.
I'll say two bad things about the movie. The first is a problem that I
had with the book. There really is no specific "bad guy" or bad thing
that they have to fight like in the other Potter books/films. I'm not a
huge fan of the big epic battle being against dementors who are
supposedly on the side of good. My second problem is that the movie was
too short. Of the first three books, the third is the longest yet the
third film is the shortest. They could have added 20 minutes to the
movie and included a bunch of explanations that would've made the movie
make more sense. While most people that saw the movies have probably
read the books, I think about 10-20 minutes would've helped to tie up
all the loose ends.
Video & Sound
As I said earlier, this movie is a little darker than the past
couple movies. Overall, this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer
looks excellent, though. The sound mix, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1
surround sound, is quite awesome as well. While the last couple movies
all were a little too ambitious with the sound, they've perfected it on
the Prisoner of Azkaban. Also, the John Williams score is up their with
the best work he's ever done!
Extras
For the past two releases, I've been rather unimpressed with the
extras. The two-disc special edition set seems stacked, but they've
been filled with a lot of fluff. I think they also improved on the
extras as a whole. Instead of talking about everything, I'm just going
to cover the ones I found the most interesting. Unfortunately, there
was no commentary, so the Head to Shrunken Head piece was my favorite
featurette. Running 43 minutes, it features interviews with almost the
entire cast and some members of the crew as well. Also on the disc is
Conjuring a Scene which is a special effects piece. Care of Magical
Creatures is a piece about the training of the animals used in the
film. There are some games which kids seem to like and also a preview
of the third Harry Potter videogame. Trelawney's Crystal Ball has three
deleted scenes. Lastly, Creating the Vision talks about adapting the
films from the books.
Closing Thoughts...
The Potter series as a whole is a personal favorite of mine. If you
haven't given any of the Harry Potter films or books a chance, do
yourself a favor and just give it a chance. Of the three movies, this
one was my personal favorite.
Overall Score
Movie - 9
Video & Sound - 9
Extras - 6
Overall - 8
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Last Updated on Sunday, 02 January 2005 14:24 |
