Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban follows Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) as they’re drawn into a mystery involving an escaped prisoner named Sirius Black (Gary Oldman). It’s clear immediately that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban stands as a marked departure for the watchable yet thoroughly bland series, as filmmaker Cuarón, working from Steve Kloves’ screenplay, has infused the proceedings with a much darker (and intensely cinematic) vibe that proves impossible to resist – with, especially, Michael Seresin’s cinematography heightening the impact of even the most innocuous of sequences and generally ensuring that the picture is, visually, nothing short of breathtaking. And although Cuarón has peppered the proceedings with a handful of engrossing set-pieces, including the initial appearance of the franchise’s fearsome Dementors, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, much like its literary predecessor, suffers from an episodic, woefully overlong midsection that doesn’t contain much in the way of forward momentum – with the movie’s predominantly watchable atmosphere, then, due almost entirely to the aforementioned visuals and raft of above-average performances. By the time the admittedly exciting, Back to the Future: Part II-like climax rolls around, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has cemented its place as an agreeable-enough endeavor that could (and should) have been trimmed down significantly from its 142 minute running time.

*** out of ****