Sep 04, 2004 06:24 PM
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(Updated Sep 04, 2004 06:25 PM)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite book in the Harry Potter series and most diehard HP fans like POA the most. This book should have been two movies or at least longer. I knew they cut out a lot from the book but they?ve left out so much that the entire movie felt choppy and hashed together. Anyone who hasn?t read the book will have trouble making sense of it all. I found myself constantly explaining the details to friends and family who couldn?t follow the scenes. How could Rowling approve this? I hear that she has a lot of say in the screenplay. The movie is 2.5 hours long, they could have easily added an extra half hour or so and explain the plot essentials. Lord of the Rings movies managed to do a successful and faithful adaption and LOTR is a far more complex story to adapt to screen.
Though, the actor was good, I had imagined Lupin to be more handsome in his appearance. It was mentioned that Colin Firth was considered for the role, personally I was hoping for Rupert Everett. I was skeptical about Gary Oldman because Sirius Black was supposed to be a young man. But I guess, makeup can take care of that. I can already imagine the handsome Sirius in the upcoming HP films played by Oldman but Thewlis as Lupin, I just can?t seem to make my peace with.
The new Dumbledore is good but I don?t like the new Hogwarts grounds. The magic seems to be lost in many aspects. The hogwarts castle just looks like any old university and the magical hogwarts express lacks the grandeur it had in the last two movies.
The first half of the movie was terribly choppy. Scenes that suggest Hermoine?s time travelling or her tiffs with Ron would be missed if you blink your eyes. Actually, you?d miss Ron, if you blinked. That?s another issue that bothers. Many of the characters hardly get any screen time. They lose out to special effects and style. Various plot details are also missing: Why and how did Black escape from Azkaban? How did Black know that Pettigrew was at Hogwarts? How did Lupin know how to work the map? How did he and Snape show up at the right time at the whomping willow? Why did Harry see a stag in the patronus? All these things could have been easily worked into the film with another half hour, me thinks.
All said and done, the last hour half hour was pretty good indeed. Especially the scene where Harry conjures up the patronus was brilliant.
I know that an adaption doesn?t mean a word to word transformation of the book onto the screen but the end product has to make sense. This one doesn?t. The trailer should say, ??Read the book before you watch this!??
