AlanBarber.Org
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Well I saw the new Harry Potter movie last night with my girlfriend and a friend. We were over to the friend’s new apartment and watched Gothika (I’ll write up a review on this next). It was still early and we wanted to go do something so since the friend is a Harry Potter fan we went to see the new movie.
Now I’ve never read the books and I’ve only seen the first two movies when they showed up on HBO so don’t expect any comparing or contrasting to the books.
Suffice to say it wasn’t a bad movie. The core cast has defiantly matured and it is very noticeable. Both in physical as well as vocal changes which could mean the end of this cast is not far off.
The story was good. I didn’t notice any obvious plot holes although I’m sure the hardcore fans will watch it 20 times and manage to nit pick every little detail.
The basic story goes something like this. It’s Harry’s third year at Hogwarts. A murderer named Sirius Black has escaped from the Azkaban prison. There’s a history between Black and Harry’s family and Black wants to kill Harry.
It’s a much darker story from the previous two movies. There was far less humor and silly hi-jinks this time round. Which I found a bit disappointing to say the least. The first movies were very much kid friendly with the humor but this one was so much darker that I just don’t see it being as enjoyable. Of course the hardcore fans out there will sit there and enjoy it just as much I’m sure.
Story aside the movie was very good at the special effects. This is obviously an important issue considering that magic is a fundamental part of the story. They did very well at not making the CG effects stick out like a sore thumb. Many movies I can sit there and point out every CG effect because the computer work is just so different from physical special effects. However, I was able to watch the movie and not really tell.
If I had to rate it I’d give it one thumb up and one down. One thumb up for the overall movie and one down for the darker and less child friendly experience. If you’re out wanting to watch a movie and liked the first two movies then go check it out. However, if you didn’t then go find something else because you will end up bored.
on 06/05/2004 at 04:00 PM