Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by Victoria Alexander

I was thrilled when I heard Alfonso Cuarón ("Y tu mamá también") was given the task of re-imagining the Harry Potter franchise. It was a brilliant choice. Cuarón brings a darker, ominous vision to the world of magicians and the strange world of wizardry. The cutesy world of Chris Columbus's Harry Potter is behind us.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is still living with his venal relatives. They have given him a room instead of a closet but still do not respect his wizard heritage or his magical powers. (In J.K. Rowling's world Harry's family treats him like a sub-caste Untouchable. This is something I still do not understand. My goodness, self-taught tarot readers are revered as oracles.)

Harry might be chronologically 13 years old but he's gaining in maturity and growing manhood. He looks at least 20. He gets angry now and shows the awakening of testosterone, throws a fat spell on ugly Aunt Marge (Pam Ferris), and leaves on a supernatural bus for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But first, he spends the night at a magical medieval inn at Hogsmeade where some students have gathered. Herimone Granger (Emma Watson) and the perpetually-scared Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are also there.

The most important thing about "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is that it is the first movie that will actually bring in readers who have, like me, not read the books.

At Hogwart's, now draped in darkness and aged back to medieval times, all the wizards revere Harry's father. Apparently, this awesome respect has not trickled down to the other students (or Harry's relatives) who still regard him with contempt. This class snobbery was apparently modeled on Princes William and Harry's schoolmates.

At Hogwarts Harry learns that Sirius Black (a gleeful Gary Oldham), who is rumored to have been behind the murder of his parents, has escaped from the fearsome Azkaban prison. He is coming for Harry to settle festering, magical wounds even though he is well aware that the prison's sentries, the pure evil flying Dementors, are guarding Hogwarts. Resembling black ectoplasm, The Dementors are wonderously designed. A rather placid Professor Lupin (David Thewlis), the new Defense Against the Dark Arts, befriends Harry. Lupin is a mundane character amongst the other teachers and his transformation took me by surprise. My least favorite character, Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), has been promoted to instructor, but still lives in the woods and hasn't bothered to get a haircut, shave, or wear a professorial wardrobe befitting his longed-for elevated status. Hagrid, finally visualized as a lumbering giant but given less to do in HP3, has a new flying pet, the Hippogriff.

Yes, the story is more sophisticated, but a strong, visually emotional design is what Cuarón brings to the project. His characters are adolescent wizards and we feel that their youthful passion for life and magic can get them into trouble. The dark glow of the entire production leaves HP1 and HP2 in the realm of children's bedtime stories.

Here's the key: If you want me to believe there is an invisibility cloak, mammoth flying creatures and werewolves, you had better make the entire landscape strange and menacing. Once you put weird creatures, demonic forces, and magic into the everyday world, I slip into thinking logically and start doubting the story. Cuarón has created a world where wizards and the power of spells are possible.

Since Mike Newell is directing the fourth installment, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," and Cuarón has said he is not willing – unless a few years pass – to helm another Harry Potter again, can I put forward a fellow Mexican for the fifth: "Amores Perros" director Gonzalez Inarritu?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures presents A Heyday Films/1492 Pictures production
An Alfonso Cuarón film

Credits:
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Producers: David Heyman, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe
Screenwriter: Steve Kloves
Based on the novel by: J.K. Rowling
Executive producers: Michael Barnathan, Callum McDougall, Tanya Seghatchian
Director of photography: Michael Seresin
Production designer: Stuart Craig
Editor: Steven Weisberg
Costume designer: Jany Temime
Visual effects supervisors: Roger Guyett, Tim Burke
Music: John Williams
Casting: Jina Jay

Cast:
Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley: Rupert Grint
Hermione Granger: Emma Watson
Draco Malfoy: Tom Felton
Rubeus Hagrid: Robbie Coltrane
Albus Dumbledore: Michael Gambon
Vernon Dursley: Richard Griffiths
Sirius Black: Gary Oldman
Professor Snape: Alan Rickman
Petunia Dursley: Fiona Shaw
Professor McGonagall: Dame Maggie Smith
Peter Pettigrew: Timothy Spall
Professor Lupin: David Thewlis
Professor Trelawney: Emma Thompson

MPAA Rating PG

by Victoria Alexander - FilmsInReview.com