Title Directed by
Rating
Times Seen
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Alfonso Cuarón
 9 1
    Everyone keeps talking about how much the three lead players, Daniel Radcliffe, in the Harry Potter film adaptations are "growing up so fast." People keep saying they'll shortly be too old to play the roles convincingly. I guess most people have no concept what a thirteen year old looks like.
    That's how old Harry, Hermione and Ron are supposed to be in the third film of the Harry Potter series. I checked their respective ages; Radcliffe was freshly 14 when the picture was being shot, Rupert Grint is a year older than Radcliffe and Emma Watson is a year younger than she ought to be. Strangely, most people seem to be commenting on how grown up Watson looks. I guess they missed that bit in school where they teach you about how girls mature physically before boys do. Go figure.
    Like the actors, the films are growing up too. Gone is the bright primary colour palette of "Philosopher's Stone." "Prisoner" uses a much earthier set of colors, and the film has a desaturated look to it reminiscent of certain scenes in Lord of the Rings. The whole look of the film is much grittier, likely owing to the cinematography of Michael Seresin who has worked on such happy and joyful films as Life of David Gale, Angela's Ashes and the Cosby Show spinoff, Angel Heart. It could also be the vision of director Alfonso Cuarón, who takes over from Chris Columbus to be this year's Cinderella story. Between Alfonso and Guillermo del Toro, I'm starting to have a thing for Italian filmmakers.
    Everything about the third movie seems more "grown up". Some will complain about the choice of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, but aside from the fact that you simply can't have the late Richard Harris play the part anymore, Gambon brings us a less whimsical headmaster. Some will point out that Hagrid's hut, along with other notable landmarks seem to have changed locations. Indeed, the whomping willow is now perched at the edge of a steep hill, at the bottom of which lies Hagrid's abode. While I'm not making excuses for these inconsistencies, I noted that when I first became an adolesecent, the world changed rather drastically. Returning to old stomping grounds only proved how much I'd changed, growing taller and having no use for playing the same games I had as a child.

    It's apparently a fact that escaped those who have read the books; the Harry of the most recent installment, "The Order of the Phoenix" is sixteen years old. Imagine Emma Watson playing Molly Ringwald's part in "Sixteen Candles" and you'll understand the transformation these characters will have to go through. I'm sure in some people's imaginations they never got a day older. Harry Potter is growing up, whether his audience likes it or not.
    And thankfully, so are the films. It just won't do to have the same wide-eyed wonder Chris Columbus gave us in the first two films when we reach the end of the fourth. The material is just too dark, too serious, and too grown up to leave simply as a children's film. Like the literature it is adapting, the Harry Potter films continue to be more than just another children's movies. They're definitive versions of the books, giving us a visual window into what Potterworld looks like.

Movie Reflection: Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban

Legend
10
 This movie is in my "top 10 films" list.
9
 I laughed, I cried, I peed my pants because there was no good time to leave the theater.
8
 The kind of movie you see twice and tell all your friends about.
7
 Worth paying full admission for.
6
 Worth seeing.
5
 Could have waited for DVD.
4
 Should have waited for DVD.
3
 Even if I'd waited for the DVD I'd still feel cheated out of the rental price.
2
 If someone ever gives me this movie I'll use the DVD as a coaster.
1
 Kept watching because my arms were pinned and I couldn't claw my eyes out.
0
 Piece of crap.
WO
Walked out.