Here are my original reviews of all the movies in the Harry Potter series. My review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 will publish here by Thursday.
Harry Potter went and got himself a gothic makeover. Teenagers!
Just when you thought he was on the straight and narrow, he goes and gets all creepy. Next thing you know, he’ll be stage diving at Marilyn Manson shows in fishnet stockings and black nail polish. Don’t blame Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe; it’s not 100 percent his fault. Blame his father figure, director Alfonso Cuarón, whose last film (Y Tu Mama También) had more unnecessary nudity than Web-streamed video from Rush Limbaugh’s showercam. I'd love to know at what point producers thought Cuarón, a fine director, would make a perfect fit for a film about youngsters. And were they drinking?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is dark … too dark for most little children. It’s downright scary at times. Not that this is a bad thing, but be warned: the movie has matured with the stars, and your little ones might not appreciate execution scenes, child-eating werewolves, evil soul-sucking Grim Reapers and more doom and gloom (and shades of gray) than an average Tim Burton film. Like a child who overturns rocks to glance at pill bugs and scorpions, Cuarón flips the Potter series over just to see author J.K. Rowling’s darker creations squirm about and attack each other.
In this third tale, Potter returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn how to become a master magician. Of course getting there is half the journey: One of the best scenes of the movie is when Potter boards a triple-decker bus that weaves through London traffic at Mach 5. When he does return to school, the semester is interrupted early with the news of an escaped convict, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), a madman killer who wants what all villains in these movies want — Harry Potter dead. Sirius may have been involved in the death of Harry’s parents years before, so naturally Harry takes it upon himself to do the investigating. Geez, don't they have a wizard police or something?
Of course, during his investigation, he’s befriended by a new teacher (David Thewlis), taunted by Carpathian surfboy Draco Malfoy, hassled without prejudice by Professor Snape (the great Alan Rickman) and schooled in philosophy by Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon tries to replace the late Richard Harris). There’s also new monsters: a hawk-horse combo, a shapeshifting entity that warps into onlookers’ worst fears, and the Dementors, the Grim Reaper ghouls.
This is a very different Potter film, and not so much with its story or characters. It’s Cuarón’s directing that gives it its dull edge. What was a richly filmed kids film shot with heart by Chris Columbus is now a gloomy, muddled mish-mash of depression filmed with no respect to continuity. Compared to the first two films, this one just doesn’t work. It’s the ugly duckling — a rogue with a temper.
On its own level, though, it’s different, which is a daring step to take with a series so popular. Dark or not, Azkaban may keep the series from falling into an annoying vortex of over-simplified kiddie gunk. At least with this setup, there’s room for maturing.
