The Frinklin and Fred Show

Amateur Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Vastly Improved Movie Franchise

I was feeling stir-crazy enough by Sunday afternoon to head out to the movies. The Mrs. Frinklin and I checked out the latest Harry Potter movie. The Mrs. and I are both Potter fans. The funny thing about it is, I hadn’t ever picked up one of the books until I’d met her. We bought a copy of the first one for the Now-Teenage Boy. He wasn’t a teenager then, but that isn’t important. What is important is that he didn’t read it. I was bored while babysitting one day, and I picked it up. I was hooked.

Now, the only real problem with this movie is it shows how soulless and cold the previous two were. The first two Harry Potter movies were fine; they followed the story in a very perfunctory manner. The looked very slick and polished to a bright sheen. They were okay, never really good, and certainly never great. In told, they were far too forgettable for such a great story and concept as Harry Potter. They had no spark, to put it bluntly.

That has all changed. The new director, Alfonso Cuaron, best known for the teen sex-filled road movie Y Tu Mama Tambien, has spark to spare. This movie is crisper, sharper and far more involving than either of Columbus’ efforts. Like the first two, this movie follows the book closely, dropping a few subplots, but very little of importance changes.
The plotting is quicker, which is due to the book as much as it is the director. It’s also darker, looking at more complex issues of guilt and innocence.

Cuaron is helped immensely by the maturity of his young stars. Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint now embody the characters; instead of just play them, though there is a crying scene that Radcliff obviously had problems with. As with all the Potter movies, the secondary parts are perfectly cast. Alan Rickman returns as Professor Snape, sneering with much apparent evil he chills the blood just by saying, “Turn to page 394.” Michael Gambon, whom I frankly preferred, replaces the late Richard Harris as Headmaster Dumbledore. His Dumbledore is lighter and more mischievous than Harris’ statelier version. The other two big additions are David Thewlis as Professor Lupin and Gary Oldman as the escaped killer Sirius Black. Thewlis, who specializes in darker characters, really shines as Lupin, one of Potterdom’s favorite supporting characters. Oldman’s Black is a nice performance in a difficult role; he spends ¾ of the film only seen as the face on a WANTED poster.

As with all the movies, some missing bits might irritate Potter fans. There is only one Quidditch sequence, but it’s a doozy: the darkness, rain and swirling Dementers (Nazghul-like creatures that suck the happiness from their victims) turn the game into something sinister. The origin of the Marauder’s Map and the identities of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs aren’t revealed, though with a little insight many viewers will figure it out. Slightly more problematic is the lack of explanation as to why Harry’s Protronus (a magic shield against Dementers) manifests as a stag. It is a small, but touching bit that would not have taken more than a few seconds of screen time, and I frankly can’t see why it was dropped.

Still, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a remarkable achievement, a thoroughly enjoyable adventure story, and worthy interpretation of JK Rowlings’ work. Unfortunately, Alfonso Cuaron will not be back to helm Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth (and in my opinion best) book in the series. The director for that movie will be Mike Newell director of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco. He has a lot to live up too.