random thoughts thinking aloud

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I am not a huge fan of Harry Potter, but I have never missed any episode of the movie series (as to the books themselves, I still have not touched The Order of the Phoenix). Amongst the first four books, The Prisoner of Azkaban is my most favourite, so is its movie version.

Coming to the third in the series, all the novelty seems to have faded out in the eyes of the audience. Luckily, director Alfonso Cuaron, who is also new to the series in place of Chris Columbus (still being the producer), realised the problem, and thus skipped / fast-forwarded some of the repetitive scenes like the quidditch match and how Harry spent the summer vacation.

The characters were treated the same way. Except the trio, some familiar characters like Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and even Headmaster Dumbledore (now played by Michael Gambon filling the loss of the late Sir Richard Harris) have given way to the newcomers like Sirius Black (played by the brilliant Gary Oldman) and Professor Lupin (Emma Thompson's Professor Trelawney is not worth discussing though). Still, the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite, probably because of its darker theme and story.

I am not eager to see the Triwizard Tournament in the Goblet of Fire, but the appearence of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named shall be worth the wait for the 4th episode.