Director:  Alfonso Cuaron		Released:  June 2004
Writer:  Steven Kloves, from J.K. Rowling's book		MPAA Rating:  PG
Players:  Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Emma Thompson		Running time:  141 minutes

I saw this movie on a Friday night at the "geriatric matinee".  It seemed to be, anyway.  The film has only been playing for what, two, three weeks?  But there were no kids in the audience.  The crowd consisted of all the people who wanted to see the movie, but avoided the opening weekend crowds.  Nowadays, if you don't see a film on opening weekend, you're just not hip.  By the Thursday after a film opens, it's old news, it might as well have opened 5 years ago as 5 days ago.  It's strange.  Opening weekend is everything.  Films with "legs" are rare.

Of the first three Harry Potter films, this one is the most filmic, the most like a "real" movie.  It's also the least fun, and the least impacting.  There are a lot of important events that take place, but they were not made to feel important.  Their impact feels pretty soft to me.  Like the reveal of Scabbers and Sirius Black, or the significance of the Marauder's Map or Lupin's dual identity.  Maybe the editing needed to be tighter or something, because the timing and plotting seem a bit off.  This particular book is better suited for reading than for filming.  My own imagination creates a world richer than what's on screen, so the picture is a little dull in comparison.  The same could be said for the first two films, but in this film it's more noticeable.

There was definitely some good stuff that I did enjoy.  Like the Knight Bus and the Monster Book of Monsters.  Those things aren't critical to the main plot, but they are the things that bring magic to the movie, and there are fewer of those here than in the first two.  Buckbeak is a terrific creation.  On the page, Buckbeak is a lovable hero, a creature you come to respect.  On film, he is equally portrayed, and the visual effects work is fantastic to match.  I also liked that guy, Tom, that was pushing and pulling Harry all over the place after Harry arrived at the Leaky Cauldron -- he was funny.  And John Williams score continues to work perfectly for the series.

Why did they not explain how Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban?  Numerous characters mention that he is the first and only person to successfully perform the escape.  And the big payoff comes when it's explained that in order to escape he ... oh, right.  They forgot the payoff.  That's a loose end that shouldn't be left dangling.

- crocoPuffs

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