Prisoner of Azkaban
Saw "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban" for the second time today.
"The Prisoner of Azkaban" has always been my favorite of the Harry Potter books. It's the point in the saga where the story deepens, the atmosphere darkens, characters gain a history and themes mature. The ending chapters in the Shrieking Shack with Harry and Sirius and the others was a memorable reading experience, exciting and revealing enough to make me feel ten again, while also being the moment where Rowling's books just open up with huge potential. As a result, I was highly anticipating the third movie.
Some thoughts here:
-LOVE the settings in the movie. The new designs for the castle and the grounds surrounding it are gorgeous and give Hogwarts an exotic mysticism and sense of history that wasn't as strong in the first two movies. The endless vistas of evergreen trees, the lake, the ruins, the seeing stones, the craggy sets of stone stairways down the hillsides, the setting around Hagrid's hut, the bridges, the clock in the tower- wonderfully atmospheric. Even the early scenes in the playground where Harry sees the Grim were just beautifully filmed. It might not look like the same setting from the first two films, but I liked it much more. I know the movie was filmed in Scotland and if this is what parts of Scotland look like I want to go visit now. After I go to New Zealand... and Alaska. OK, I've been watching a lot of movies/TV shows recently with beautiful scenery :).
- The special effects have improved by leaps and bounds since the first two movies. Harry's first flight on Buckbeak is one of the highlights of the movie. The Dementors are suitably scary and dark. The wild trip on the Knight Bus was fun. The Quidditch game in the storm was really impressive, too.
- I think Urban Tapestry needs to learn the song the Hogwarts Choir sings at the Sorting Ceremony for the kiddie concert at Confluence. There was a full version of the song over the closing credits. If anyone reading this report can direct me to an MP3 of that song I'd be grateful.
- Like in the books, Harry is becoming an increasingly interesting character as the movies go on. I was impressed by Daniel Radcliffe and I think this is the first time Harry's actually taken center stage in his own movie. Harry's moving from reacting to the events and people around him to actually trying to control and shape his destiny. The anger is new and intriguing, just as it is in the recent HP books, especially Book 5.
- Go, Hermione :). It was fun to see a Hermione who knew her own mind, while also being slightly out-of-control at the same time. Fun to see her take down Draco, confront Prof. Trelawney and own those time travel sequences at the end. I also liked her little affectionate moments with Ron, though they really played down the fighting between Ron and Hermione in the book.
- Scenes cut out and missed: Gryffindor finally winning the Quidditch Cup (my classes were bitterly disappointed about this one), Lupin telling Harry where the Marauders' Map came from, learning why Snape dislikes Harry's father and Snape's reaction to Sirius' escape, the ending scene where Harry and Dumbledore discuss Harry's mercy to Pettigrew, a longer sequence inside the Shrieking Shack (I was bitterly disappointed about this one).
- Uncomfortable with how they're starting to play Draco Malfoy. I don't know how true my instincts are to the book, but I don't see him as wimpy and cowardly as he's portrayed in this movie.
- George and Fred Weasley rock. I love how in the Marauders' Map scene they keep completing each other's sentences and speaking their thoughts together.
- Fun to see Parvati Patil and Pansy Parkinson pulled out from the anonymous crowd of students and given an identity.
- Remus Lupin is one of my favorite characters in the HP saga and though he didn't look anything like I picture Lupin in the books, I did like how he was portrayed in the movie. I liked his mentor relationship with Harry and I can't help but wonder, in light of the events in Book 5, if this relationship will become stronger in Books 6 and 7. (Rowling is -not- allowed to kill Remus, just as she is not allowed to kill Ron :))
- Severus Snape rules and that is all. Love Alan Rickman. Intriguing on film to see how quickly he jumps out to protect Harry, Ron and Hermione from the transformed Lupin. I suspect Snape will throw his life on the line again to save Harry before the books are done. I just hope he survives the experience.
- Very happy with the new Dumbledore, too.
- Really liked how they handled the time travel sequence at the end of the movie. It was clear and clever and fun to watch.
My biggest beef with the movie:
To me, the emotional touchstone of the third book is the moment that Sirius Black asks Harry to come and live with him. When I first read that scene I cried, Harry's quest for family is such a touching thread that runs through the books and this brief moment when he actually finds that connection is so moving and bitter-sweet. I wasn't happy with how the relationship between Harry and Sirius was developed in the movie.
I really, really wanted to see a longer sequence in the Shrieking Shack to give Harry more time and motivation to understand Sirius' past and his connection to Harry's parents. In the book, when Harry attacks Snape to save Black, it's a defining moment, Harry has chosen his loyalty. In the movie there's been only enough time and dialogue to have him disable Snape to get more info about Peter Pettigrew. I don't feel the attachment Harry has to Sirius outside the Whomping Willow feels justified- it's too quick. It reminded me of Frodo offering the Ring to Galadriel in the original theatrical FOTR- you can't understand in the movie sequence before it what in the world motivated this level of trust between the two characters (the extended FOTR improves this scene a lot).
As a result, in the movie, Sirius' offer to have Harry live with him fell flat for me. There hadn't been enough established between the two characters to make the moment really resonate. I think already I want an extended "Prisoner of Azkaban" DVD to restore those scenes... Gary Oldman was good as Sirius Black, but I felt the script let him down. Still, those have always been my favorite chapters in the HP saga, so maybe I was expecting too much of the movie.
All in all, though, I liked "Prisoner of Azkaban" a lot. I think it's the best of the Harry Potter movies so far.
"The Prisoner of Azkaban" has always been my favorite of the Harry Potter books. It's the point in the saga where the story deepens, the atmosphere darkens, characters gain a history and themes mature. The ending chapters in the Shrieking Shack with Harry and Sirius and the others was a memorable reading experience, exciting and revealing enough to make me feel ten again, while also being the moment where Rowling's books just open up with huge potential. As a result, I was highly anticipating the third movie.
Some thoughts here:
-LOVE the settings in the movie. The new designs for the castle and the grounds surrounding it are gorgeous and give Hogwarts an exotic mysticism and sense of history that wasn't as strong in the first two movies. The endless vistas of evergreen trees, the lake, the ruins, the seeing stones, the craggy sets of stone stairways down the hillsides, the setting around Hagrid's hut, the bridges, the clock in the tower- wonderfully atmospheric. Even the early scenes in the playground where Harry sees the Grim were just beautifully filmed. It might not look like the same setting from the first two films, but I liked it much more. I know the movie was filmed in Scotland and if this is what parts of Scotland look like I want to go visit now. After I go to New Zealand... and Alaska. OK, I've been watching a lot of movies/TV shows recently with beautiful scenery :).
- The special effects have improved by leaps and bounds since the first two movies. Harry's first flight on Buckbeak is one of the highlights of the movie. The Dementors are suitably scary and dark. The wild trip on the Knight Bus was fun. The Quidditch game in the storm was really impressive, too.
- I think Urban Tapestry needs to learn the song the Hogwarts Choir sings at the Sorting Ceremony for the kiddie concert at Confluence. There was a full version of the song over the closing credits. If anyone reading this report can direct me to an MP3 of that song I'd be grateful.
- Like in the books, Harry is becoming an increasingly interesting character as the movies go on. I was impressed by Daniel Radcliffe and I think this is the first time Harry's actually taken center stage in his own movie. Harry's moving from reacting to the events and people around him to actually trying to control and shape his destiny. The anger is new and intriguing, just as it is in the recent HP books, especially Book 5.
- Go, Hermione :). It was fun to see a Hermione who knew her own mind, while also being slightly out-of-control at the same time. Fun to see her take down Draco, confront Prof. Trelawney and own those time travel sequences at the end. I also liked her little affectionate moments with Ron, though they really played down the fighting between Ron and Hermione in the book.
- Scenes cut out and missed: Gryffindor finally winning the Quidditch Cup (my classes were bitterly disappointed about this one), Lupin telling Harry where the Marauders' Map came from, learning why Snape dislikes Harry's father and Snape's reaction to Sirius' escape, the ending scene where Harry and Dumbledore discuss Harry's mercy to Pettigrew, a longer sequence inside the Shrieking Shack (I was bitterly disappointed about this one).
- Uncomfortable with how they're starting to play Draco Malfoy. I don't know how true my instincts are to the book, but I don't see him as wimpy and cowardly as he's portrayed in this movie.
- George and Fred Weasley rock. I love how in the Marauders' Map scene they keep completing each other's sentences and speaking their thoughts together.
- Fun to see Parvati Patil and Pansy Parkinson pulled out from the anonymous crowd of students and given an identity.
- Remus Lupin is one of my favorite characters in the HP saga and though he didn't look anything like I picture Lupin in the books, I did like how he was portrayed in the movie. I liked his mentor relationship with Harry and I can't help but wonder, in light of the events in Book 5, if this relationship will become stronger in Books 6 and 7. (Rowling is -not- allowed to kill Remus, just as she is not allowed to kill Ron :))
- Severus Snape rules and that is all. Love Alan Rickman. Intriguing on film to see how quickly he jumps out to protect Harry, Ron and Hermione from the transformed Lupin. I suspect Snape will throw his life on the line again to save Harry before the books are done. I just hope he survives the experience.
- Very happy with the new Dumbledore, too.
- Really liked how they handled the time travel sequence at the end of the movie. It was clear and clever and fun to watch.
My biggest beef with the movie:
To me, the emotional touchstone of the third book is the moment that Sirius Black asks Harry to come and live with him. When I first read that scene I cried, Harry's quest for family is such a touching thread that runs through the books and this brief moment when he actually finds that connection is so moving and bitter-sweet. I wasn't happy with how the relationship between Harry and Sirius was developed in the movie.
I really, really wanted to see a longer sequence in the Shrieking Shack to give Harry more time and motivation to understand Sirius' past and his connection to Harry's parents. In the book, when Harry attacks Snape to save Black, it's a defining moment, Harry has chosen his loyalty. In the movie there's been only enough time and dialogue to have him disable Snape to get more info about Peter Pettigrew. I don't feel the attachment Harry has to Sirius outside the Whomping Willow feels justified- it's too quick. It reminded me of Frodo offering the Ring to Galadriel in the original theatrical FOTR- you can't understand in the movie sequence before it what in the world motivated this level of trust between the two characters (the extended FOTR improves this scene a lot).
As a result, in the movie, Sirius' offer to have Harry live with him fell flat for me. There hadn't been enough established between the two characters to make the moment really resonate. I think already I want an extended "Prisoner of Azkaban" DVD to restore those scenes... Gary Oldman was good as Sirius Black, but I felt the script let him down. Still, those have always been my favorite chapters in the HP saga, so maybe I was expecting too much of the movie.
All in all, though, I liked "Prisoner of Azkaban" a lot. I think it's the best of the Harry Potter movies so far.