Thoughts on 'Prisoner From Azkaban'

[Warlock]

First, I was not sure where to put this, but off-topic seems to hit the nail right on the head, but since everything else I post seems to be moved to the "We're In Haven" section, I would be surprised if this wasn't also, though that would be a decision for the moderators, please don't move it, purty please?  

Anyway, a friend of mine came over to watch Harry Potter And The Prisoner From Azkaban with me, since neither of us had been fortunate enough to find the time to watch it in the cinemas when it was out. Now, after having watched it, I am left with this odd taste in my mouth that I just can't get rid of, and the only place I felt I could express this taste at, was here, the KQIX forum

I'll start off by saying that I am not a particular Harry Potter fan, I have not read any of the books, nor do I go to bed wearing Harry Potterâ,,¢ pyjamas or hope that I will wake up in some kind of real life Hogwarts. (Because Hogwarts as we all know is a real place in England ) But I am a big fantasy nut, I grew up with watching loads of Star Wars and Star Trek, while my heart has always been attached mostly to science fiction, any kind of fiction will do. As such, Harry Potter has also caught my attention, and I thought that the first couple of movies were quite enjoyable, taking my niece to see them around christmas time will be something I will always look back upon as a good time. This movie however, I don't even know where to begin. I wasn't expecting much to begin with, but I was expecting, well.. something? My problem with the whole thing is that, this movie, of all the 3 so far made, got the best reviews of the 3 movies! WHAT?! Are you kidding me? Either every reviewer was bribed off by Warner Brothers, or I am seriously the only person in the world with any bit of taste left. What is wrong you say? I'll tell you what's wrong, this movie is so confusing. I'm sure that the book is also confusing, and any bit of confusion that exists in this movie also exists in the books. But I'm not trying to review the book here, the movie ought to be able to stand out fine on it's own, I know plenty of people such as myself who watched the movies, yet never read the books. So let's just forget about the books for a moment, let's pretend they were never written and these movies were made out of free imagination by some would-be-known screenplay writer. It seems that this movie is darker than it's predecessors, it has a whole different theme. I personally thought the first two movies had a sort of christmas feel to them, while this movie is more of a .. hmm.. easter movie, or something of that sort. The whole dark theme is fine with me, but what isn't fine is the confusing directing, lack of Richard Harris, and the weakest soundtrack of all the 3 movies. I don't like the director, I think Alfonso Cauron either slept through his directing classes or simply had a vision to make this movie stand out as much as possible that he got carried away. Once again, it's hard to deny that the book had some influence in this, but any movie based upon a book has to deal with certain issues that the book doesn't quite describe in detail. So the director, or crew or whatever have to be creative in how they want to do certain things, and seriously, I wish that someone on the crew had some imagination to understand that you can't just throw in one monster after another and expect the audience to be amazed and/or scared poo-less. Okay okay, I am not a kid, and I'm sure that a lot of kids probably found this movie scary, and it is afterall the target audience; kids, who will see this movie more than us "adults", but seriously, I was so not-scared during this movie that I found myself drifting off in my thoughts to what I am going to wear tomorrow and what I should make for dinner. In fact the scariest part of this movie was when my friend fell down his chair..  

Then there's the soundeffects.. I mean, any movie relies on it's music and sound, but this movie, it's more a visual experience I should say, as often the scenes that are supposed to be scary have either totally unfitting or horrendously inadecquate soundeffects attached to them. There were many points in this movie, where I thought to myself "hmm , I could have done this better", in fact, I know that this movie would have been better had it had better soundeffects more appropriately used.

So in my opinion, this movie tries to stand out too much on it's own. It's somehow drifting away from the first two movies in the series, while preparing for the upcoming entries. I don't think it's a bad movie, I like this movie, I think that it was worth the watch but I don't think it lives up to it's predecessors, let alone is better, as most reviewers and friends I have talked to think it is. I am not a Harry Potter fan this is true, and I am a little biased by not having read, nor ever intended to read the books and of course favoring science fiction over fantasy.. but c'mon people, I enjoy every fantasy and fiction, I don't have patience to read the books, but I think the movies are enjoyable, I actully had a blast watching the first two. I had absolutely no expectations when sitting down to watch this movie, and I'm glad I hadn't. It's in my opinion the weakest in the series (and I hope it continues to be!!) as well as being just a poorly directed and generally poorly executed movie. It seems that this movie tries so hard to be something, the special effects are good, but the director doesn't seem capable of squeezing good performance out of the actors as Chris Columbus did in the first two movies (which he directed!). I'm not sure why they changed to Alfonso Cauron either, though I'm sure it has a logical explenation. The only optimistic thing about all this is that the next entry in the Harry Potter series will have a new director, and atully a new musical composer, so maybe they can shift the direction that this movie has made the Harry Potter movie franchise take. I still can't help to wonder though, how I seem to stand so alone in my opinions on this movie.. How can it be better?! It's so much worse, so so much worse. And I know this is not anyone's fault.. but Richard Harris was great as Dumbledore, and this new guy.. well, he just isn't! They should have used their fanciful CGI to re-create him and invented some new technology to mimic his voice, though it's doubful that he alone could have saved this lackluster...  

Anyways -WHEW- that's what I think. I'm interested in knowing whether others out there in the KQIX forum share my views, or think I am utterly lacking taste. Well??

[Drunken Chinchilla]

Nice a new Harry Potter thread *rubs hands together*

Hmmmm well personally I liked this film the best out of the three but i am biased in that out of the first three books this is my favourite. My MAJOR gripe with it though was the dementors. When the hell was it ever mentioned in the book that they flew!? I was expecting these terrifying creatures (in fact i pictures them looking very similar to the 9 dead dudes in LOTR:FOTR whos names evade me) but they just didnt quite live up to their reputation in the book.

Also I felt the film was rushed in the sense that it was all mainly focused on the plot - an odd thing to say I know but I wanted to see more lessons, more MAGIC really! Its what makes the books so appealing to me, its not just these super wizards and witches kicking ass, theyre still kids, still learning and making mistakes.

Once again my mind fails me for exact details, bah *shakes stick at getting 3 hours sleep*

Oh and Jesse, I think this might just get merged into the other Harry Potter thread

[Warlock]

NOOOO... do not merge this with any other thread, this entire thread is not about 'Harry Potter' persay, it's about my personal thoughts on the third movie specifically and the incredibly unbalanced ratings it got. To merge this thread with another major thread on Harry Potter, simply because they have a thing in common, would mean that you should merge so many other threads too, do not do this Alex, the galaxy's future depends on your actions..

If this get's merged, it will be overlooked, and people will quickly focus on other parts of the thread and thus anyone potentially willing to respond to this 'part' of it would maybe be scared from coming forth with their opinions... Merging, the great evil of the 21st century...

When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be...  

[daventry]

Harry Potter And The Philosopher Stone

Harry Potter And The Chambers Of Secret

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Do you think they should remake the Videos\DVD's again. They left allot from the books, witch made the movies very confusing.

Besides, there are the Lord Of The Rings Extended Videos and DVD's.

Here is a site that that gives you all the info of the LOTR Movie\Book references. http://jackflannel.org/lotr/

I hope they make Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire movie much better.

There are allot of things in the movie that was left out and confused me allot. Here are two sites that gives you all the info of the HP Movie\Book references.
http://www.harrypotterfacts.com/_film-book1.htm
http://www.harrypotterfacts.com/_film-book2.htm

When will they ever put that ghost in the movie called Peeves.

One confusing thing though in the third movie is that when Harry cast a spell on Professor Severus Snape, he does not get expelled or anything.

Cool, we can now beat up our teacher and get away with it.

[racx_00]

Hmmmm well personally I liked this film the best out of the three but i am biased in that out of the first three books this is my favourite. My MAJOR gripe with it though was the dementors. When the hell was it ever mentioned in the book that they flew!? I was expecting these terrifying creatures (in fact i pictures them looking very similar to the 9 dead dudes in LOTR:FOTR whos names evade me) but they just didnt quite live up to their reputation in the book.

I agree the dementors were nothing like I had expected. They were definitely not scary looking in the movie ;(
And I agree it was very rushed

[Jeysie]

Well, I watched the movie yesterday for the first time, and I have more than a few thoughts myself...

For one, I have to disagree a little with Warlock... I thought the directing was generally good. The atmosphere of the movie was delightful. I loved all the little touches of magic they threw in... the waitress upturning the chairs in the Leaky Cauldron, all the portraits and photographs, Dumbledore lighting candles with a hand wave, Lupin locking and packing trunks with a wand wave, mystical objects floating everywhere... it truly gave you a feeling that this is a magical place where spells and magic are everywhere.

The acting was generally good as well. (grin) For instance, when we were watching the credits, Harrison gave a start of surprise when Gary Oldman's name came up, and he said, "Gary Oldman was in this?!" I said, "Yeah, he was Sirius Black." He said, "Yeah, I figured that out *now*..." I should mention that Harrison is usually quite talented at picking out actors. In fact, I think Sirius, Hagrid, Trelawny, and Dumbledore were the only characters in the movie who seemed spot-on with their portrayal in the books. Most of the other actors were good, but the scriptwriter didn't give them the right material to work with. Incidentally...

And I know this is not anyone's fault.. but Richard Harris was great as Dumbledore, and this new guy.. well, he just isn't!

Ehh. I saw the first movie, and found Harris kind of disappointing... he seemed kind of wooden and lifeless to me. Gambon seemed to give Dumbledore more of the playfulness and sparkle he has in the books. I still have yet to see the second movie, so perhaps Harris was better in that one (the whole first movie had an understandable "feeling its way" aura to it, so maybe that had something to do with it).

I'm inclined to say that the faults in this movie lie mostly with the person who wrote the script.

I'll tell you what's wrong, this movie is so confusing. I'm sure that the book is also confusing, and any bit of confusion that exists in this movie also exists in the books.

Actually, the book *isn't* confusing at all. It is mysterious, but things make perfect sense at the end of it. My recommendation would be to read the book, but if you don't want to do that ask someone who has read the book to explain all the bits they left out.

In fact, I had to do that for Harrison, because right after the Shrieking Shack scene finished he said, "I'm SO confused." So I spent 15 minutes during the credits explaining the real reasons why Hermione's cat was chasing after Scabbers, the whole HUGE details of backstory given throughout the book of Lupin, Peter, Sirius, and James being friends, why they could turn into animals, why and how they made the Marauder's Map, why and how Peter betrayed James and framed Sirius, the reasons behind the existence of the Shrieking Shack and Whomping Willow, and more...

Then after they got finished leaving out a whole ton of important stuff that was in the books, they put in a whole ton of stupid stuff that wasn't in the books, like the whole "Harry and Hermione getting chased by Lupin through the forest" bit. Bleh. (And while I liked most of the special effects, the werewolf they came up with... you have to be kidding.)

And now for a bit of fangirl ranting...

I like Ron in the books because he's brave, loyal, and witty, among other reasons, none of which comes out in the movie. (They even gave his "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to go through us" line to Hermione, which was one of Ron's best moments in the book. (sigh)) Then, to add insult to injury, he comes off as a complete moron. Ron is a bit dense at times, mostly when it comes to tact and emotions, but he's nowhere near as clueless as he was in the movie.

Harrison would joke from time to time during the movie saying, "I'm [Hermione] Harry's witch! ...or Ron's, maybe, I dunno." And it did feel kind of like "The Harry and Hermione Show". In the books Ron and Harry are like brothers, and Ron and Hermione have an odd spark going. In the movie it's hard to tell why Harry or Hermione would care about Ron. Grr.

To back up to the first movie a little, I remember after watching it that I thought it was fun, but it didn't spark me the way the book did. After watching this third movie and giving it some thought, I realized what bugged me about the two movies.

Subtlety. Or rather, the lack thereof. The books are subtle. They have lots of subtext, carefully parcelled exposition (for the most part), lots of little clues, etc. But the movies rush through everything, stating everything bluntly and quickly, and it makes many of the moments lose their poignancy.

Which brings me to my favorite adult character, Lupin. Lupin is a subtle and crafty character in the books. He chooses his words and actions carefully, is a master of the "art" of lying by omission, and is almost always in control... and the few times he isn't in control usually end up being Very Bad Things.

In the movie we instead get this sort of boisterous, bossy character who comes off as a bit of a jerk. Part of it is the actor's fault here... he seems to bellow most of his lines and talk rapidly through the rest.

The only scene in the movie I really liked was the boggart class... and even there we missed out on the initial confrontation with Snape that was in the books. I'd say that Snape and Lupin are two master dialogists (is that a word?), and reading them subtlely insulting each other is a treat, but almost all of the encounters between the two were cut. The closest we get is Snape's "Out for a little walk... in the moonlight?" line. Bah. (Alan Rickman has the perfect delivery for Snape's artful nastiness, but he just doesn't get used enough.)

Usually I don't mind when movies deviate from their books. I didn't care about all the differences in the LotR movies, for instance (in fact, I thought they were improvements, for the most part). But in this case I think it might have been better to stick more closely to the book. I guess the problem is that Prisoner of Azkaban is a very character-and-relationship-centered book, and Hollywood lacks a little in portraying those sorts of stories well, unless it's a romance. So they cut the characters and throw in more action.

Bah. OK, sorry, I'm done ranting now.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Drunken Chinchilla]

*Gives Jeysie a standing ovation*

hehe that really did sum up most of what I was thinking but didnt type! Although I have to agree with warlock on the dumbledore point, I think Gambom doesnt have the kind of mystical charm that Harris had in the first two films. Everytime Harris spoke it just felt "right" for lack of a better word. When Gambon spoke it sounded too gruff...lol I know thats not much of a reason but its hard to say just what the difference is...

Anyway heres to hoping they take their time with Goblet of Fire, if they make a mess of this one it'd be a tragedy :/

[GravityMX]

Jeysie, stop making posts that remind me of school work  
j/k
The movie comes out on video and DVD here tommorow. I'm not really a Harry Potter, Just though I would let you's know  

[Oldbushie]

I haven't watched the third movie yet. Read the book though.

[Warlock]

Wow, I almost forgot about this thread, let alone responding to Jeysie's post which I intended to do.. a week or so ago.. Lol..

I'm not sure I agree, with just about everything you said actually... my friend who I was watching it with, is like myself not a Harry Potter fan, so he hadn't read the books either, and by the end of the movie he had way more questions than answers, which I can definitely relate to... I found that a number of things felt rushed and put together in a way that was extremely incoherent... I also found that special effects were way more visible in this movie than in any of the others, sort of a dissapointment, like the Jabba The Hutt scene from A New Hope, it just doesn't work out in reality as well as it does in theory. Richard Harris is a good actor, and I'm saying that because his roles live on in the movies he starred in, that includes the first two Harry Potter movies... I felt that his portrayal of Dumbledore was very warm, very characteristic and very well acted. The  guy who plays Dumbledore now gives the sort of performance that made neither myself nor my friend pay any sort of attention to him, he seemed... stale, and a little out of focus, I would rather not have had him in the movie at all. Because you really feel that they intentionally tried to exclude any real scenes with Dumbledore now that the original actor is dead, and the result is just way too obvious in my opinion. I also think that the movie, while being darker and more artistic, also defeats the purpose of Harry Potter, kids are likely to get more confused than entertained, because you can't start inventing new ways of doing things when you're dealing with a movie that both

A) has to stay within the limits of the books and

B) has to understand what it's target audience is,

and who the heck are we kidding; it's kids. Sure there may be a lot of grown-ups who see the movies, or young people whatever, but the most people who see them are kids, and kids I found weren't able to follow the story as well as in the books, my own niece was more entertained by the effects than the story, just because the story was so out of focus and cluttered, resulting in a movie you easily forget you ever saw.

Anyway, learning that John Williams won't be doing the soundtrack for the fourth movie I have already given up hope for this series, but I do hope I am proved wrong, I do hope they can turn this thing back on it's original track... and please... CGI DUMBLREDORE!

[Jeysie]

Hmm.

We do agree that the PoA movie is rushed, confusing, and rather incoherent... I was just pointing out that the book is none of those things. But you don't have to take my word for it... go read the books yourself.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree on the rest of it, though. The darker atmosphere was appropriate, because the HP series becomes darker with the third book. Not to mention that I found the second movie to be darker and scarier than the third one, actually...

I didn't find the SFX obvious at all, for the most part. Quite the opposite, in fact, since they were treated much more matter-of-factly, instead of the "Hey, look, this is MAGIC! Isn't it COOL!" attitude the first two movies sometimes gave off.

And after watching the second movie, I just didn't really care for Harris as Dumbledore. He just seemed too tired, sleepy, and flat/monotone. I remember cringing at the "Alas, earwax!" line at the end of the first movie, in particular, because it was so flat. Gambon as Dumbledore has much more life and twinkle to him. Harrison even said to me while we were watching the second movie, "You know, the only thing I like better about the third movie was the new actor playing the head guy!"

On the whole, I liked the first two movies better than the third... which is ironic, since the third book is probably my favorite of the series, and the first two books are my least favorites. I'm not holding my hopes out for the fourth movie from what I've heard so far, but they'll have a new scriptwriter for the fifth movie, so I'll cross my fingers...

Last random thought: I find it telling that even though Harrison and I usually pick out the same favorite characters (we both like Sam from LotR, for instance), after watching the HP movies, he likes Snape quite a bit, and doesn't like Lupin or Ron at all.

...heck, after watching Alan Rickman's scenes, *I'm* even starting to like Snape. NO, THIS IS WRONG!

At any rate, what I really wanted to pop in for, but couldn't because the forum was down (grumble) was to share something incredibly hilarous I happened upon. I will warn those with senstive eyes (*cough*Koko*cough* ) that some "adult" language and humor lie within, but the rest of you will be rolling laughing.

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Fifteen Minutes"

HARRY: Guys, I have something really freaky to tell you! Shall we sit in the train car with the drunk sleeping under a coat?

HERMIONE: Sure, might as well.

HARRY: Rock. So, Sirius Black is coming to kill me and stuff.

WINDOW: *frosts over*

DRUNK'S BOTTLE: *freezes*

RON: OMG we're going into a new ice age! Everybody start burning books!

SCARY SHRIVELED HAND: *pulls open door*

DEMENTOR: SHIIIIIRE.... BAAAAAGGINS....

KIDS: AHHHHHHH!

DEMENTOR: *dements*

HARRY: *pitches a spaz*

RON AND HERMIONE: Help! Somebody help!

DRUNK: ...

RON AND HERMIONE: SOMEBODY HELP! GO DEMENT THE DRUNK OR SOMETHING!

DRUNK LUPIN [leaping up]: I am no drunk! I am your pitifully mysterious new professor who takes his sweet time coming to the aid of his new students! BACK, YOU DEVIL!

DEMENTOR: *flees*

LUPIN: Here, eat this chocolate.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Warlock]

LMFAO at that thing you posted Jeysie!

I'm not gonna be a pooper and say that the 3rd movie t0t411y s0x0rz, it just doesn't hold up in my opinion to the first two. I don't want Harry Potter to be inventive, I want it to be the good old thing I'm used to, mainly because if I want to see artistic work, then I probably won't be watching Harry Potter! Of course the book is darker, and scarier, I'm not denying that, but I'm saying the movie also has to stand on it's own two feet, and I don't think that it does. Anyhow, everyone has different opinions, and that's fine I guess, I'll have to get used to it untill I invent a mind control device  

Other than that:


Richard Harris says "Shame On You!"

[Jacana]

All in all I agree with the movie being rushed and such.  I watched it opening night in the theater (yes I am a fan but not a fangirl).  I walked away feeling a bit confused about what actually happened and when.

I felt that this HP was ment more to be a teenage action flick with teenage angst and a tiny bit of flirting thrown in.  Personally, I was not all that impressed with the bluntness that was put in the movie about the relationship between Ron and Hermonie.

But there is much to rejoice  Alfonso or what ever his name was was only taken on to direct the one film. So maybe it can be brought back to the more "normal" HP theme.

On the other side it may kinda hurt them because this will be the third director in four films that they have - and if styles change enough it could hurt the film.

I am really looking forward to seeing what they do with Goblet -as this book, imo, is really what sets to pace for the rest of the series.  I see this being "the" movie in the series.  If they really screw this one up then I will be very concerned.

Just a side note.... Was I the only one who got the feeling that there was something a bit "Michael Jackson" going on with Lupin and Harry when they were talking on the bridge.  I think it had to do with the look of Lupin but..... *shudder*

[Jeysie]

OK. My latest advice:

Screw the POA movie, and just get your hands on and listen to Jim Dale doing the audio book version. I borrowed it from the local library recently, and I'm rather enjoying it. It's a bit lacking in visuals obviously , but the voices he does for each character are quite entertaining. I like his ones for McGonagall, Lupin, Pettigrew, and Snape especially. His own voice is quite nice as well; he's the narrator for the DVDs. That's all...

Peace & Luv, Liz

[MangoMercury]

The movie wasn't the greatest thing.  I may still purchase a copy, but I felt that they went downhill, then PoA was a HUGE DROP.

I know the new director was trying a different style and all, but establishing shots of a leaf blowing in the wind for 15 seconds SUCKED.

This was my favourite of the books, and this disappointed me.  Ah well

[Drunken Chinchilla]

OK. My latest advice:

Screw the POA movie, and just get your hands on and listen to Jim Dale doing the audio book version. I borrowed it from the local library recently, and I'm rather enjoying it. It's a bit lacking in visuals obviously , but the voices he does for each character are quite entertaining. I like his ones for McGonagall, Lupin, Pettigrew, and Snape especially. His own voice is quite nice as well; he's the narrator for the DVDs. That's all...

Peace & Luv, Liz

I quite like Stephen Fry on the UK audio books, he has a good voice for a narrator. I think the audio books are the perfect middle-ground between watching the movie and reading the books though as when you cant be bothered to read but then want to get the whole feeling of the books you just pop in a CD and away you go!

[MangoMercury]

Okay, it's not as bad as I remembered it, but ESTABLISHING SHOTS = TEH NO.

[Jacana]

I keep looking at the DVD and wanting to buy it thinking maybe it'll be better after a second watch - then I remember I paid enough for the movie and wasn't too happy, so I'll wait till the DVD is on sale

[Oldbushie]

My family owns the movie and I still haven't seen it....

[Rosella]

*Corrects title* I have to say that this was my favorite book in the series (before OotP) so maybe I'm that much harsher on the movie.  But I just about cried in the theater. Dementors flying? Cheating! Half of the plot of the book was the anger between Ron and Hermione because of the Firebolt and Crookshanks. What do they do? They make the Firebolt come at the end and Hermione and Ron start flirting (waaaaaaay too openly.) I think I'm qualified to say that I know the character of Hermione pretty well, and she would NOT just grab Ron's hand like that. I think it's an awesome idea to have people try to put some of themselves into a character, but with the HP movies, I'd rather see Harry be Harry, Hermione be Hermione, and Ron be dead Ron. I met a lot of Harry Potter nerd friends and they all thought it was the best movie ever. I felt like I was the only sane one (which, as you can imagine, is a very odd feeling for me to have ). Though this movie has been out for like, ever.  I blame OB for resurrecting the thread. So those are my thoughs. They aen't as long winded as some of yours but it's 1:30 am, give me a break