Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I really loved this movie.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is fantastic! This entry is another drastic step up from the previous film and the tone takes a dramatic shift in terms of seriousness. The quality and cinematography are simply brilliant in this film. There are so many amazing shots and sequences that just had me completely enamored. These films are ahead of their time for sure. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has the best plot of the series so far. There is a constant threat looming in the background throughout the entire film that is known from the opening minutes. Sirius Black's menacing posters and headlines create a real sense of danger, and he truly seems mad. The dementors also deliver a serious threat on screen. Their introduction is terrifying, and their presence is felt in every scene. One of my favorite things about this film is the conclusion, the time traveling elements are perfect and answer so many questions that I had when running through the finale the first time. My fiancé and I were very confused at how things were happening, and I was having a hard time believing it. But it was brilliant the way it looped around, and the audience was given more backgr

I recall the controversy as this was released. Alfonso Cuarón consciously decided to darken this film, and the light-hearted stories of the first two are replaced by an edgier approach to this tale for our wizarding trio. The world's most wanted wizard "Sirius Black" (Gary Oldman) escapes from "Azkaban" allegedly bent on the destruction of "Harry". The script has more by way of addition to the original book, but in a complementary - not detracting way. As the children grow into young adults, we are exposed to a scarier side of their existence - the "Dementors" that are supposed to protect the innocent and the "Boggart" all serve to introduce a physical fluidity to this shape-shifting environment of peril in which they now exist. The presence of "Valdemort" becomes more omnipresent and there is so much more substance to the stories now. Sir Michael Gambon takes over the role of "Dumbledore" without quite the presence of Richard Harris, but we can tell now that this series is heading for murky, dangerous, waters...