Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

“A child’s voice, however honest and true, is meaningless to those who’ve forgotten how to listen. ” – Dumbledore

Number of Times Seen – 2 (3 Sep 2004 and 12 Apr 2015)

Brief Synopsis – On the eve of Harry’s return to Hogwarts for his third year, a dangerous wizard escapes from prison and is hell bent on reaching Harry.

My Take on it – This movie continues the dilemma of the previous two movies in not deciding whether they want to present a story for kids or for everyone.

The story itself is better than the past ones, but the decision to cut and truncate so much essential plot is this movie’s weakness.

Those of us who have read the book have been treated to a richer plot line with a lot i off exposition and explanation. The movie glosses over much of that and I have no doubt that there could have been a way to include more of it than was presented.

I must say that I believe that this is the poorest adaptation of any of the 7 source novels.

This movie introduces us to a few essential and influential characters in the series.

Best of all is that finally Harry begins to understand who he is and what he must do.

Bottom Line – As with the two previous installments, things keep getting better story wise. This movie’s slight mishap is that it truncates and excises so much essential exposition from the book. Probably the poorest adaptation of the entire series. Great new characters with Harry starting to learn who and what he is. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – A clause in Alfonso Cuarón’s contract forbade the director from cursing in front of the kids on set.   (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy

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