Matt's Movie Library: 'Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban'

With Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald coming out this November, I figured this was as good a time as any to revisit the Harry Potter films. And it’s the 20th anniversary of the release of Sorcerer’s Stone the book, so even more reason. I’ll be looking at the original one two at a time, before finishing with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. These won’t be regular reviews per se, but more of a review/reflection combination.

The review and subsequent rating will be based on the movie by itself; I won’t take into account how it compares to or differs from the accompanying book. But if there are notable people, scenes, etc. left out of the movie, I might make mention of those as more of something that I wish had been included simply due to my personal opinions.

And in the spirit of honesty, these look-backs won’t necessarily have the same structure. Some might be long and in depth. Others might be shorter and more light-hearted. Whatever I feel the day(s) I’m writing will be what comes out. Should make it fun. Keep it spicy, I like to say.

I don’t have any sort of release schedule planned for these. Just know that I will be done before Crimes of Grindelwald is released on November 16. These are also not in conjunction with Chris’s revisiting of the Harry Potter book series (as of this blog being published, he has written about Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban).

Rest of the movies
Sorcerer’s Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Phoenix
Half-Blood Prince
Deathly Hallows Part 1
Deathly Hallows Part 2
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

*It shouldn’t be necessary given how long the movie has been out, but this will contain spoilers.*

Chamber of Secrets may have given us a preview of the darker tone the series was going to take. But Prisoner of Azkaban stepped it up a notch and really started to set the tone for the remaining movies. And one aspect that helped move the series along in that direction was a forced cast change. Due to the unfortunate passing of Richard Harris, the film needed to find a new Dumbledore. They found Michael Gambon, who would go on to play the role the rest of the series. I know the reception to Gambon as Dumbledore was a bit mixed, but I was always fine with his portrayal. There’s no denying Harris was great in the first two movies. But his demeanor was a bit too light-hearted for the darker tone of series. Yes, he could have adapted and done just fine – and I’m sure he would have. But there was also something nice about having a new Dumbledore at the time we did. It was about the best time to have that role recast, when the series started to go more aggressively down its dark path. It might have been more jarring had Gambon come on in the fourth a fifth installment.

I personally love this movie. It’s a technically sound movie, and it’s highly entertaining. I know some fans weren’t as enamored with it, mostly due to one issue: there is no real “bad guy” in Prisoner of Azkaban. And that’s a valid complaint. Sirius Black is made to seem like a top-tier villain, but he then of course turned out to be a good guy – one of the best good guys, in fact. If you watch this movie and feel like the rug had been pulled out from under you, I can’t really blame you. Movies with better villains tend to end up with better third acts, just from the nature of having more interesting and engaging characters and more intense conflict between the villain and hero. When a movie builds up to that throughout its previous acts and then doesn’t deliver, it can feel a little deflating. So why don’t I see that as a problem here?

Well there are a few reasons. First and foremost, Sirius is still a great character. His own personal history, his importance to the larger story at hand, it’s all great. And it adds so much to the series as a whole. He gives Harry a connection to his past, his parents in particular, that he likely never dreamed he would have. And while it was short-lived, he gave Harry hope. Hope that he would be with family again. And not family like the Weasley’s had become. But family as close to his parents as he could get. Sirius was James’ best friend, Harry’s godfather, and as another wise teacher once said:

(Okay, this may have been a bit forced. But come on, it’s Mr. Feeny. Couldn’t help myself.)

Going along with the bad guy theme, there is one part that always annoys me when I rewatch Azkaban. When Sirius reveals himself, but before the kids know the full truth, Lupin finds them all in the Shrieking Shack. And he too is then made out to be a bad guy, as being in cahoots with Sirius. Even his tone of voice changes to a creepy bad guy voice. Lupin and Sirius play the pronoun game, which is one of the most annoying things a movie can do. But again, the movie gets a pass. And again, it has a lot to do with how epic the character involved is. Lupin is the man. He’s one of the best characters and one of my favorites. Like Sirius, he gives Harry (and the viewers) a connection to the past he otherwise wouldn’t have had.

And really, the majority of the rest of the movie is so good, that it just doesn’t much matter to me that the third act ended up feeling somewhat anticlimactic. However, I do realize that opinion may be influenced by the fact that I had read the books before seeing the movie. I could fill in some blanks, and knew what was coming later. To someone who had only seen the movies, hadn’t read any of the books, I can certainly see how they might be disappointed here.

While the villain problem is enough to drop the movie maybe a couple of points for me, there are some other problems that bother me more. We’ll get the obvious one out of the way first: the Time Turner. Any time a movie introduces time travel, they’re putting themselves on a slippery slope. I’m not even going to try to explain how time travel works in the HP universe. I have no hope of explaining any of it in any sort of understandable way. I’m confusing myself just thinking about it. But I’m sure there are countless Reddit threads that could do a better job than I explaining how it all works. But the main thing, besides how Future Harry went back in time to save Past Harry even though without a Future Harry there to cast a Patronus, Past Harry wouldn’t have survived the Dementor’s Kiss to become Future Harry to go back in time to save Past Harry (See what I mean? Super confusing.), is why were the Time Turners never used again? Or even at least suggested as a possibility? (And yes, I’m intentionally not mentioning “Cursed Child” here). I know, there are time travel rules and limitations, but still. All these years later and the Time Turner is still one of the first things to get mentioned when discussing issues with the series, books or movies.

I’ll finish this part with one of the bigger logical flaws that doesn’t get talked about much. And this how incredibly easy it is for Harry and Hermione to free Sirius from the tower. Let’s not forget that in the eyes of the Ministry, Sirius was still a convicted mass murderer and known devoted follower of Lord Voldemort. He was the first – and up until that point, only – person to escape from Azkaban. The series makes a point of showing how inept the Ministry can be at times, but here? Really? Leaving a criminal like Sirius locked up in such a place that a third-year student is able to blast open the door with a simple Bombarda spell? Why weren’t Aurors immediately dispatched to Hogwarts? Or why weren’t they there already? A teacher or two could have at least been assigned to stand by the door, if nothing else. They’ve been shown many times already to be more than competent witches and wizards. I’m inclined to believe Dumbledore had something to do with it, but there isn’t any proof to back that up. The Minister really “fudged” that one up (See what I did there?…I’m sorry, I”ll see myself out.).

Let’s talk about Azkaban

The idea of Azkaban the prison doesn’t quite make sense. It is the only prison-type place that ever gets mentioned. And for Death Eaters, murderers, and the like, it makes sense. Isolate them in the middle of the ocean, surround them with Dementors, and you’re all set. But what about lesser criminals? If Mundungus Fletcher gets caught selling stolen or counterfeit goods, does he go to Azkaban?

Or do small-time criminals never face any sort of jail time? That wouldn’t quite make sense. It would essentially give anyone free rein to commit petty crime. If all they’re going to receive as punishment is nothing more than a slap on the wrist? Why not. However, if anyone and everyone does indeed go to Azkaban, then maybe it is the best deterrent. Maybe the threat of Azkaban is enough to sway most away from committing any sort of crimes. Then you would just be left with the worst of the worst (i.e. Death Eaters), who actually would belong in a place like Azkaban.

Odds and Ends

Harry’s Firebolt

This was a welcome change from the book. In the book, Harry received the broom as a Christmas present from an anonymous gifter (who of course turns out to be Sirius). But Professor McGonagall takes the broom so that it can be thoroughly inspected for jinxes, curses, and the like. In the movie, Harry receives the Firebolt at the very end of the movie. The movie ends with him flying off on it, while he screams with happiness. The book version wouldn’t have played out as well on screen. It would have come off as nothing more than a filler scene, and one that likely would have felt unnecessary. But I thought it was a perfect choice to end the movie this way. In a movie filled with so much darkness, it was an easy way to end on a lighter note. Harry was given a rare moment of pure joy and elation and avoiding coming off as forced or corny. Rather, it felt completely genuine.

Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson played Divination professor Sybill Trelawney. I found her to be extremely annoying in the book, so I was not as receptive to her movie portrayal the first few times around. But as I’ve watched it more and more now, she continues to grow on me. Emma Thompson just disappeared into this role and we should all be thankful. She gets more enjoyable with each viewing. Sure, she’s loopy or crazy or “out there” or any other number of adjectives to describe her personality. But she’s just fun.

Hogwarts Fashion

One of the more ridiculous running gags in the HP series is the outrageous ways some of the students wear their ties. I mean just take a look at Harry and Ron here. This is simply out of control.

The Boggart

When Lupin has the class facing the boggart, how is this demon any better than the giant snake it started out as? This thing is terrifying!

Harry, the poor kid

The exact moment everyone fully realized Harry was officially the third-wheel in the trio. Well, everyone except Harry, that is.

Missing from book

Again, these aren’t here as complaints. I’m trying to view the movies as completely separate entities from the books. These are just certain scenes, characters, etc that could have been fun or interesting to see play out on screen.

Harry’s attack on the “Dementors” (Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle) at the Quidditch match

This just would have been a fun scene to see. I think this book scene is underappreciated. Think of how big of a *insert any curse word here* do you have to be to try to trick someone into thinking Dementors are coming for them? And it’s not just Harry. While he is affected more than most, nobody wants the Dementors around. They’re effectively messing with the entire student body. And then Harry just destroys them with Expecto Patronum? Are you kidding me?!

Defense Against the Dark Arts final

Like the Dementor/Quidditch scene, this would have been nothing more than some fun fan service. I completely get why this wouldn’t have been included. Still though, would have at least been entertaining to see.

Sir Cadogan

Similar to Peeves, this dude was a riot in the books. But it makes sense he didn’t make it into the movies. When you’re looking through something as dense as the Harry Potter books, plenty of parts need to be cut. And in the grand scheme of things, Sir Cadogan was likely an easy decision to leave on the cutting room floor.

There is, however, a deleted scene with Sir Cadogan, that gives us a little taste of what could have been.