Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)

Approaching his third year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has had enough of his muggle relatives. He runs away from them (finally) and enters his third term facing trouble from more than one side: for using magic outside the school and from the news that a notorious criminal, serial killer Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), has escaped the wizard's prison at Azkaban and apparently is headed for Harry. Hilarity ensues as the school calls in supernatural help against Black in the form of Dementors, but unusual things continue to put Harry in peril. He is thrown into a confusing sequence of shifting allegiances and shifting shapes where nobody is who or what they seem. Who is the real criminal? What is the real crime? Who is telling or knows the truth? If only he had enough time to figure things out.

Trivia: Emma Thompson accepted the role of Professor Trelawney to impress her four-year-old daughter, Gaia. After the death of Richard Harris, many actors were considered for the vacant role of Albus Dumbledore. Christopher Lee was in the frame for a while, and there was a rumor (reported in many newspapers) that Ian McKellen was also considered. The Harris family wanted Peter O'Toole to be cast for the role but O'Toole declined. Richard Attenborough also lobbied for the role but was ultimately turned down. Honeydukes "is floor-to-ceiling psychedelia" and includes Mexican skulls made of sugar. The cast was told that the Honeydukes candy was lacquer-coated, when in fact it wasn't, to prevent candy from disappearing between takes. The set for Honeydukes was previously used as Olivander's Wand Shop in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Flourish and Blotts in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The tattoos on Sirius Black's body and hands are borrowed from Russian prison gangs. They are markings which identify the person as a man to be feared and respected. Alfonso Cuaron coached Daniel Radcliffe in one scene where the latter had to act awed: "Pretend you're seeing Cameron Diaz in a G-string". It worked. During the filming of the sleeping bag scene, director Alfonso Cuaron and the filmmakers played a practical joke on Daniel Radcliffe by hiding a remote-control-operated Whoopee Cushion in his sleeping bag. According to Cuaron, Daniel tried really hard to stay in character while everyone else was laughing.

So far this is the best of the three movies. The characters are set, the world of Hogwarts is well established and they can get down to truly telling the story. As I alluded to yesterday, the new style of Alfonso Cuaron is different from Chris Columbus who gave up the director's chair but produced this movie. First off, the kids are more casual and more of what I would picture a British school would be like, no robes but instead the kids get to wear dress shirts and ties. Second, Hogwarts is in a different, more rugged area. Hagrid's house is no longer across a small lawn, but rather down a hill. It gives it more of a feeling of the Scottish Highland then the first two did. Of course, I might be biased because I read the books, but the story in this one is very solid and I didn't see many errors even knowing about the time travel aspect at the end, there didn't seem to be any rough edges. The three main kids really help carry this one, (with the help of great performances by Gary Oldman and David Thewlis who plays Professor Lupin), they are really growing as actors. You can really see the dark turn that the series is headed for that will really get ramped up in the last four movies that will each feature deaths of major characters.