*** Spoilers ***

I'd have to give it 9/10

N.b. Sorry it's so long, I couldn't stop once I had started

My Review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Well I thought the film was fantastic, despite the trouble I had (I missed the beginning up to when he left the Dursleys and had to sit in the aisle, because the seating got mucked up!)However, it was definately worth sitting on the floor and I did not care that it was uncomfortable.

I agree with people that you need to see it twice to fully appreciate it, because I blinked a couple of times and missed some crucial scenes. Literally the Weasley's photo of Egypt was 2 seconds and there was no explanation to it or anything. I didn't see Bill or Charlie and can't wait to get the DVD so I can pause it.

The film did miss out quite a lot, and had been chopped up and edited quite drastically. However Alfonso didn't just shove it back together in some random way, I felt it worked very well, and included what was needed.

Firstly the kids have really really improved their acting. I don't know whether it was their maturity or Alfonso but they acted their parts, and didn't just reel off lines that had been learnt. They actually had emotion and it felt much more natural. Dan really put everything into his performance. He was so much more vulnerable and the horrors of his past really come into play. The scene where he and Lupin discuss his past, and in the tower practising the Patronus charm, really were touching, and you finally get the idea that Harry has been through a lot. In the first two films, it honestly just feels like he has had a bit of cruelty from his aunt and uncle and has no parents. He doesn't seem to be affected by this and just wanders around aimlessly. However in this one he really shows how hard his life is, and the emotion of finding out that Sirius was their friend and betrayed him is so strong.

Emma was much better, though a bit less stoppy than in the book. She even had me laughing with her hair comment 'Is that what my hair looks like from the back?' and she really has matured.
I loved Rupert so much. Seriously, his confusion about Hermione and how she kept appearing was adorable, and how he was almost praying on Hermione's attention with his leg. So cute. Though in the shack those two really did get silenced. That was okay because there was so much going on, but you didn't see any or Ruperts disgust at Scabbers being Peter (probably because of time restraints)

There was a lot of chemistry between the trio this time, and you get the feeling that they actually care about each other and also have arguments. I was slightly taken back by how much physical contact was between them. There were so many scenes where Hermione was holding Harry's hand (okay understandable circumstances), literally hugging and crying into Ron, (major ship moment) and just generally touching the guys, them putting their arm round her etc. I think it worked though. It seemed more realistic but was just strange because in the other two films there is absolutely no contact at all. Seriously all three were much more protective and close, which was believable from the book point of view, but compared to PS/COS it seems kind of overdone.

I loved the humour added to it aswell. It was lovely in places and the comments between Draco and the others worked very well. I loved Malfoy in this one and he was so much more arrogant than the others. The scene in hogsmeade with the snow was ingenious and the whole cinema laughed. I was pleased they broke up the tension and darkness of this film with light hearted comments.


The Shrieking Shack. Hmm, I'm really not sure about this. The whole scene was extrememely rushed and confusing. This worked in both good and bad ways but for example, Snape's involved just seemed bizarre. He suddenly turns up, gets thrown back in the bed and is then just forgotten. Seriously, no mention of him after that until we are told he saw the Patronus? I loved that Sirius was so desperate and angry, and that was half of the reason it was so rushed. It worked in that sense, if you understand what I mean. Lupin and Sirius were fantasic and played wonderfully by David and Gary.

They really did change the Shack bit and what happened afterwards, and I think it was more thought out in the book. However it was intense, exciting and everything that it needed to be, so I don't really have much to say negative about it.


I really did love the way they did the Time turner bit. I was always worried they would muck that up but they captured it perfectly. It was cleverly thought out and Alfonso added a couple of little extra bits that I really liked. It was probably my favourite part, along with Buckbeak. Buckbeak was brilliant, his whole part, Hagrid's emotion, the bit with Malfoy, Harry first meeting him. Everything.

I also loved the way they interacted at school. The boy's dorm bit was really nice, and showed how happy Harry was to be back at school. The general interaction between them all worked very well, with Neville comments, him getting eaten by the book, Seamus's bit with the fat lady. Perfect. And Dawn French was sooo much better than the other Fat Lady. The whole school seemed less false and much more believable that the kids were doing what they wanted, rather than being told when to laugh and exactly what to say.

It was generally more believable, for example the general Wizarding world, in the Leaky Cauldron, and there were things going on in the background, so it didn't just seem like the rest of the school were watching Harry wander around. The set was fantastic, the knight bus and giant clock, plus the whole scene around Hagrids with the pumpkins and crows, was wonderful and so realistic.

The scene transitions, were brilliant too, I loved how they used clever camera techniques, and when in the boggart lesson, you are looking at a reflection of the class, and it kind of merges into the main screen, very clever. The scenery was beautiful, really gorgeous.


I was saddened by the lack of explanation about the map and the relationship between Lupin, Sirius, Peter and Harry's parents. There were various hints to how close they were, but they weren't identified as the 'Mauraders' and I seriously don't think that people who haven't read the book will catch on to that. You see Lupin using it, but all they needed in that final scene with Lupin and Harry was a comment about the map, and an explanation of the stag. I was really disappointed that they didn't explain the animagus situation. You realise Sirius and Peter are animagus's but you don't know why. You don't realise that James was an animagus or that the stag in the Patronus represented the part of James in Harry. I've always loved finding out those two things in the book and I feel they were the only two bits cut that I really missed.

The fact that it had to be rushed in places, not through Alfonso's fault really, and how they didn't really clear up certain things, (the didn't do how the Secret keeper, and Lupin immediately knows Sirius was innocent, like as if he knew all along). This is the main reason it did not get 10/10, for I am thinking of people who hadn't read the book. It was fine for die hard fans because we didn't need explanations, but important details may be lost to other people.

Wow there is so much more to say, but I am short of writing a full length book here. The dementors were brilliant, the acting much better, the whole atmosphere much more believable, and there was a perfect balance of humour, tension, emotion and excitement. I didn't even mind that he had changed a lot because i believe it worked better on screen that way.