Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie SPOILERS!!!
I’m a happy, happy girl because I got to see “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” on Monday (5/24) night. You may be asking yourself, “Self, how is it this person saw HP&PoA almost two weeks before it was released in theatres?” That’s because my wonderful, beautiful, charming, witty, terrific friend, Julie Washington, is an entertainment reporter for The Plain Dealer here in Cleveland and she had some spare passes. So on hubby and I went, me decked out in my Hufflepuff colored scarf, to stand in a line 1.5 hours before the movie began (yes, there were people ahead of us) to get primo seats. I’ll start with significant cast additions and changes, what I liked about the movie and end with a few things that could’ve been done differently.
The cast and characters
We finally get to see Parvati Patil (bogart scene, where her “funny” thing is as scary as the “bad” thing she sees) and a kid I think is supposed to be Dean Thomas (defining a grim in Sibyll Trelawney’s class), but I can’t swear to it. We also get a glimpse of Cedric Diggory, although his name is never mentioned and he’s in the lone Quidditch scene only a few seconds before getting hit by lightening. BTW, between his rain-slicked hair and his goggles, Harry looks an awful lot like Bono circa “The Fly” in this scene. We never see Cho Chang, not even in the background as far as I can tell. And may I say Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) is almost unrecognizable now that he’s taller and has lost his baby fat (kinda like someone put his old self through a taffy puller).
As for the adults, there is a new Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) who didn’t strike me as all that funny even in funny scenes. There’s also a new Fat Lady (Dawn French) and who appears to be a new Professor Filius Flitwick (the actor’s name in POA isn’t listed at All Movie.com, so I can’t tell if it’s a new actor or the character just has a new hairdo). Neither Madam Poppy Pomfrey nor Lucius Malfoy are anywhere in this film.
I sure hope any deleted scenes on the DVD include more of Fred and George Weasley. THOSE two actors need a film of their own. The whole audience was cracking up while they were explaining the Marauder’s Map to Harry, not so much because of funny dialog but because of their timing. Just brilliant! And I also have to say the two of them looked kinda hot (shouldn’t be thinking this…I’m older and married…).
Rupert Grint is doing great as an actor as well. He’s even better as the comic relief pal than in previous movies. Unfortunately, the other two stars had moments of performing courtesy of AT&T (see below).
Stuff I liked (or at least agreed with)
One of my favorite things about this new film was seeing Harry interact with kids OTHER than Hermione and Ron, and not just the comic-relief Neville Longbottom. The first night back in the Hogwarts dormitory, you see him and the other boys horsing around, eating candies that make them do funny stuff followed by a pillow fight. It’s nice to see the hero of the story being just a boy, you know what I mean? This may be important to the Potter virgins, those who went to the film because either their kid or their significant other is a fan and therefore have NO clue what is going on. It humanizes Harry for the whole audience.
One of my biggest concerns before seeing “PoA” was the scene in the Shrieking Shack (say THAT ten times fast). It’s a very “talky” scene and is spread out over three chapters in the book. I was worried how well it would come off since the “talky” scene in “Chamber,” the one where Tom explains it all to Harry, still came off as, well, talky. You can’t HAVE that in a movie, not unless you plan to remake “My Dinner with Andre.” The Shrieking Shack scene, however, has several people talking, so that made it more bearable. Plus much of what is revealed here is strongly hinted at in previous scenes so Harry and pals believe what they’re told even quicker. For example, Remis Lupin’s bogart clearly turns into the moon – floating clouds included - rather than just some orb that could’ve been a crystal ball. Plus it is Harry, not Lupin, who notices a live Peter Pettigrew wandering on the Marauder’s Map and THEN he tells Lupin about it, thus it’s far easier for Harry to believe the info dropped on him in the S.S.S. (I’m getting REAL tired of typing that whole phrase).
And the director must’ve wanted to use a whole new outdoor set for this film, because the Hogwarts and Hagrid’s cabin in the first two films were on level ground while the two buildings in this one are in a VERY hilly area. I don’t know why the change - perhaps the new location is in or close to England and the previous one wasn’t? In any event, this hilly-ness somehow makes everything look spookier to me. Oh, and Hagrid’s cabin has a new edition in the back.
What else? Except in the scenes where the gang is running up or down a hill between the castle and Hagrid’s place, all outdoor bits - especially near the Whomping Willow, which is NOT kind to passing birds - were filmed on a sound stage. I’m not sure I would’ve noticed this had I not seen the “Making of” bits on ABC a few weeks back, but this was probably done to speed up production and make commuting/life in general easier for the cast and crew.
The shrunken head in the Knight Bus isn’t just the fuzzy dice of the magical world; it tells Ernie what obstacles are in the street before him, so he can make their bus squeeze between two others and other neat tricks. It’s a wonder anyone gets any sleep while he’s at the wheel.
Director Alfonso Cuarón does a fine job of get across the scariness of the dementors, especially when we first meet them. And worse, they can FLY in the movie! But when Harry has his dementor-inspired fits, only once does the audience hear his parents’ last words (actually, his mother’s last scream). Perhaps putting all of the gory details from the book into the movie would’ve been too much for a young viewer? Its one thing to read about a nasty old dementor in a book you can close and put away, but quite another to see a 30 foot high dementor’s head in the middle of a dark theatre.
One funny bit the audience liked involved Hermione looking at herself while back in time. She says, “Does my hair really look like that from the back?” My guess is that the line should’ve been or was “my butt/ass,” but the film is going to be seen by little kids and some body-image sensitive pre-teen or teenage girls who would think, “If HER butt doesn’t look good, then how bad must MINE be?”
And the director must find animal poo funny – twice! That’s all I’m saying.
What didn’t work and why
There were a few occasions where Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson phoned in their performances. Not for the WHOLE film, mind you, but there were a few cringingly wooden moments. The first was when Harry whipped out his wand to threaten his Uncle Vernon after Aunt Marge went Zeppelin. Well, “whipped” is the wrong word - perhaps “gently removed so as not to poke anyone in the eye” would be better. And Daniel Radcliff’s delivery of a “Make my day” sort of line had all the passion of a pizza order. Plus there’s a later scene where you hear Harry crying and sniffling, but when you see his face its completely dry, no sign of tear tracks. But the most cringe-inducing, wooden line delivery came from Emma Watson, just before we first meet a dementor. Note the (lack of) conviction when she says “Ow, Ron, that was my foot.”
One very confusing bit was Harry’s bogart. In the book, Lupin stops him from conjuring it because he assumes it’ll take Voldemort’s shape. In the film, the bogart turns into a dementor and Lupin stops him from fighting it. Later, I swear I heard Harry ask Lupin why he wasn’t allowed to conjure it and Lupin gives a reason similar in that book. Maybe I misheard something, but the bogart was already a dementor so why was I hearing the conversation I thought I heard? I could have misunderstood something - I’ll know for certain when I see the film again.
One thing left out of the movie that should’ve been inserted in at least SOME small way, not just because its important but because anyone who has NOT read the books would be lost without it, is someone, ANYONE, revealing that the makers of the Marauder’s Map was James Potter and his friends. Lupin never even tells Harry in the film how he knows the parchment insulting Snape is really a map. It might be in a deleted scene, but that’s no help to the Potter virgins.
There’s more, but between my bad handwriting and taking notes quickly while in the dark, I can barely read them! You’ll have to see the film for yourself June 4th. I definitely liked it and my husband says it’s the best of the three. Enjoy!
Patty