EEK!Scary! I like Harry This Tine! (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (DVD))

Member Name: English Lady

Product:	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (DVD)
Date:	08/11/05 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's not as bad as the chamber of secrets...

Disadvantages: a few plot holes and unanswered questions.

Well here’s the thing. I don’t really like Harry Potter. I’ve never read one single book but somehow I managed to watch the films. The first I thought was ok, the second I thought was a complete pile of tosh, so as I had read so many negative reviews of the latest offering “The Prisoner of Azkaban” I was not looking forward to it.

You see from what I had heard there was a new director in for this one (Alfonso Cuaron apparently) and he had taken things into a very dark and spooky place, which most people thought wasn’t that good. Also another complaint was from Harry Potter book readers and this was that the film cut and chopped the book about too much. To be honest this didn’t bother me as I’ve never read a book so how am I going to know if there’s any difference anyway?

Harry Potter (the now obviously teenage Daniel Radcliffe) is back at home with the ever-so offensive Dursley’s for the summer holidays and is trying his best to endure a visit by Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge. She manages to get Harry so angry he blows her up! (Not as violent and messy as it sounds) and Mr Potter decides he has enough and runs away.

This is where he’s picked up by the ghostly night train, driven by the wrinkly raisin like Archie directed by a screaming shrunken Rasta head (Lenny Henry) which hurtles him through London till he reaches a Wizard/witches Inn.There he is rather surprised when all he gets from the Minister of Magic is a slight telling off instead of being locked up for performing Magic out of school.He also rceives a little bit of a warning about wandering around on his own now the evil wizard Sirius Black had escaped from the inescapable Azkaban prison.

Anyhow, the real action gets going on the train back to Hogwarts. A dementor halts the train looking for the escaped Sirius Black and enters the compartment of Harry, Ron and Hermione scaring the living daylights out of them and making our hero Harry faint right away. When they get back to school they find the whole place surrounded by dementors and they find out yet more and more about why Harry should be so worried about the escaped Prisoner of Azkaban.

Of course there is a lot more to it than this but I hate to tell you anything that might spoil your viewing experience! Now my Harry Potter book reading sister informs me the film does chop about quite a lot, but for her it didn’t deter from the film too much because she knew the extra details. I noticed a few little niggles where things didn’t seem to be explained in full. One particular incident towards the end really left me non plussed. Hermione ends up in the possession of something and the only explanation is that “McGonagall gave it to me in the first year.” Why the teacher did this remained a mystery and did spoil things for me a bit.

Visually however this is the most stunning Harry Potter Yet. The CGI effects are crisp and well blended into the live action and it is very difficult to distinguish between the two. The best example of this is BuckBeak the Hippogriff, the scenes with this massive mythological creature are breathtaking in their authenticity. You feel as if you can reach out and touch his feathers.

Also I found the filming itself to be stunning with a wonderful use of camera angles that really added to the spooky feeling of this film. Ahh yes the spookiness of the Prisoner of Azkaban has been at the centre of many a debate,and here is my tuppen’th worth on this subject. I personally feel that children under the age of 8 or 9 shouldn’t see this film, it is very dark, very spooky and it even made me jump in places. Any young or sensitive child will be scared witless, but of course this is a parental decision and you know your own child best. Maybe if they have read (or have been read) this particular book they won’t find it quite so scary but I would definitely err on the side of caution.

The soundtrack was well, exactly the same as the two that preceeded this one, at least I didn't notice anything different about it at all. It didn't stand out or jar with the action but niether did it really add to the thrill and suspense.

So here is my opinion, after all this is what you really want to read isn’t it? Well you’ll be surprised to know I’m not going to rant and rave on about how rubbish this movie is. No really, I actually quite enjoyed it.

Now don’t get too excited; it wasn’t the best film I have ever seen but it was a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours. It’s not challenging, ground breaking or particularly extreme in a good or bad way, it’s pretty darn mediocre actually which makes this a hard review for me to write.

I like to write with passion but this film filled me with no such thing. I enjoyed it, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to watch it again. Harry Potter fans might have more of a reaction to it, but I think that it would be more of a loathe it than a love it reaction because of the rampant editing of the book.

Anyhow if you want to see it, you can pick it up on VHS for £13.49 at amazon. I'd borrow a copy from the video shop if I were you,though.

Summary: Another Harry Potter film based on the book.