Well, I promised I’d bump this update when I had seen Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for myself. Well, I just got back from seeing it this evening. What follows will be my take on the movie. That would mean my impressions and such. ‘Cause this is my blog, you know. Yeah.

I am going to say this early on in my “review” so that it sticks out above anything I’ve written below. PoA is, without a doubt, the best Harry Potter movie to date and one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I have ever seen.

I don’t want to let this turn into a M-M-M-MONSTER POST, but there is a lot to talk about with this movie, so please bear with me.

After seeing PoA, I pray that I will never again have to watch a movie directed by Chris Columbus. Keep him away from all my favorite books, games, and other vulnerable franchises. To be fair though, the first two movies were not bad. They were just good enough.

Enter Alfonso Cuarón. Frankly, I have never before heard of this guy. None of his previous movies have interested me. And yet, I feel the urge to thank him for breathing new life into what has until now been an at-best mediochre series. This man had the courage to take Harry Potter in a completely different direction. The colorful, cheery atmosphere of Hogwarts Castle has been replaced with a dark, sinister, even depressing one.

For those who persist in writing Harry Potter off as “just another kid’s book,” this movie will prove them wrong. The childish acting from the first two movies is virtually absent, thanks in large part to the more mature Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I was overjoyed to find some actual, serious acting going on in this movie.

Which brings me to the story. The translation from the book to the movie felt much more natural this time around. I didn’t have the feeling of being tied to a horse (er, unicorn? Hippogriff? Work with me here, people) and dragged through the movie’s plot at a dizzying pace. There were very few plot devices that didn’t work for this movie. Certainly many things had to be cut for this movie, but it is so well done that they aren’t blatantly obvious. Hermione’s little time turner sub-plot was well-developed, but still a little confusing to those who have not read the books.

The special effects and cinematography in PoA were top-notch. They never got in the way of the plot and they never looked out-of-place or unreal. Also top-notch was the cinematography. As a casual studier of camera and filming techniques, my eyes feasted upon every frame of this film. It was absolutely some of the most stunning, flawless camerawork I have ever seen. Suffice it to say, this movie has very high production value.

I know this is too long and most people won’t reach this part of my review, but I would just like to say that Mr. Cuarón has reshaped Harry Potter into something that, despite probably not being Oscar material, is really, really good. It’s got action, suspense, drama, fear, comedy, and just about everything else one would hope for. He has turned it into something much more than a mere kids movie. I hope this trend continues.

Grade: A-