The article "Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" talks about family, it has been written by Donna Schwartz Mills.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban review © 2004 by Donna
Schwartz Mills
Studio: Warner Brothers MPAA Rating: PG for frightening moments,
creature violence and mild language Mom Rating: 5 out of 5 Kid
Rating: 5 out of 5
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael
Gambon, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis Writer: Steve Kloves
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
It's shaping up to be a wonderful summer for family films. Hot
on the heels of "Shrek 2," which is still breaking box office
records, we now have the third installment in the "Harry Potter"
series. I firmly believe that years from now, our kids will
be showing these films to our grandchildren with the same
reverence we now hold for "The Wiazrd of Oz"... only with Harry,
we will ultimately have seven classic fantasy adventures to
enjoy.
Many Hollywood types were surprised when young hotshot director
Alfonso Cuarón accepted this job after the success of his racy
hit, "Y Tu Mama Tambien." It was later revealed that J.K.
Rowling herself was such a fan of Cuarón's filmed version of "A
Little Princess" that he was actually *her* first choice to helm
Harry's debut.
Chris Columbus ended up brniging the first two
novels to the screen, and some critics lamented that Columbus
was a little too faithful to the books. There was much
speculation that Cuarón would bring a more daring touch to
"Azkaban." However, Columbus is still on hand as a producer, and
this film doesn't veer too far away from the world he already
created for the screen.
The one huge difference between this film and the previous ones
are that so much of the action tkaes place outside Hogwarts
castle, but that's as much a reflection of Rowling's book as any
decisions made by Cuarón.
"The Prisoner of Azkaban" is a transitional chapter in Harry
Potter's story, bridging the wonder and discovery of the first
two books into the darker, more dangerous tone of those that
follow.
Harry and his friends are now 13 years old and fully
experiencing the emoitonal ups and downs of adolescence.
Because
of his tragic history and difficult living situation, Harry's
feelings are a little more inetnse. Where a normal teenager may
have the urge to slam a door in anger, the rage of a teen wizard
can do some actual harm (which he demonstrates to comic effect).
Once again, Harry arrives at Hogwarts under the vague threat of
mortal danger. Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), a legendary murderer,
has escaped from Azkaban prison, and we soon find out that the
entire wizarding world expects that Harry will be his next
victim. Searching for Black are the prison's creepy guards;
ghostly creatures known as Dementors, who disturbingly take an
interest in Harry. In the course of the year, Harry learns more
about his past -- and gets closer to the undersatnding the
circumstances that led to the death of his parents, Lily and
James.
Much of his new-found knowledge is provided by Professor Lupin,
a new teacher with a dark secret, portrayed by David Thewlis. It
turns out that like the dreaded Professor Snape (Alan Rickman),
Lupin was a classmate of Lily and James Potter.
Unlike Snape, he
was their friend -- and he tkaes Harry under his wing.
The "Harry Potter" series seems to be employing the entire
population of good British actors. In addition to Thewlis and
Oldman (who are both wonderful), this film brings us Emma
Thompson as a flakey teacher of prognostication and Julie
Christie as a witchy pub owenr.
Michael Gambon replaces the late
Richard Harris as headmaster Albus Dumlbedore. Gambon's is a
more robust and mischievous portrayal, and while he's really good,
Harris' frailty bruoght more poignance to the role.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (as Harry,
Hermione and Ron) are growing into really attractive young actors
who can really carry the action, and director Cuarón gets the
most out of them. This is good, but it's at the expesne of
veterans Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and Alan Rickman. Rickman
makes the best of his diminished presence by stealing every
scene he is in with drippy malevolence.
Like the previous "Harry Potter" films, this one is rated PG for
some frightening moments, so parents should evaluate whether
their yuonger kids can handle it or not.
I felt this one was
a lot safer for the little ones cause the dangers Harry and
his friends face are more psychological: There is no face-off
with the evil Voldemort (just wait until movie #4!) and nothing
as graphically scary as the giant snake and spiders we saw in
the last film. What you have here are the spooky Dementors and a
werewolf; if your kids could handle "Scooby-Doo" without
nightmares, they should be fine with "The Prisoner of Azkaban."
The movie feels a little more disjointed than the previous two,
which may be due to the need to condense the action into 136
minutes (which is pretty long for a film these days, especially
one targeted to families). Potter fans may miss some of the
details reveaeld in the novel, and those who aren't familiar
with the book may have a few moments when they have trouble
following the story. My eight-year- old daughter, who enjoyed it
very much, left with several qeustions about what was motivating
Professor Lupin and Sirius Black. She wants to see it again...
but in the meantime, she is actually redaing the book.
A movie
that is entertaining *and* isnpires your kids to read? There's
nothing better than that...
|
