Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - Dangers lurk in Cuarón's overrated Potter chapter

3/11/2022

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - Dangers lurk in Cuarón's overrated Potter chapter

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Crooked and eerie elements surround our three juvenile friends on this poster for Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry turns his fat aunt into a balloon (quite funny) and escapes punishment to Hogwarts, where security is heightened due to the runaway prisoner Sirius Black, SPOILER who turns out not to be a murderer but a kind godfather to Harry.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is written by Steve Kloves (Racing with the Moon (1984)), adapting the same-titled 1999 novel by J.K. Rowling (Lethal White (2018)), and directed by great Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Sólo Con Tu Pareja (1991)). It is the 3rd film in the Potter franchise.

The central child characters are still irritating and/or irritatingly acted here; although Rupert Grint's (CBGB (2013)) Ron Weasley to a lesser degree than before now. The film features a great-looking hippogriff (a kind of horse/eagle combination), a werewolf and other effects delights. Despite the high production qualities, however, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a long and dull film, which takes itself so very seriously, and is fundamentally about just about nothing.

The Harry Potter franchise: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) - Harry's abysmally dour and long penultimate chapter

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) or, The Anemic British Teen Wizards Fly Again!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) - Yates enters the Potter-verse with series' best entry

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) - Potter and Co. return for handsome if overlong first sequel

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) - Columbus lands new family franchise successfully

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 130 mil. $

Box office: 797.4 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.13 times its cost)

[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban premiered 23 May (New York) and runs 142 minutes. The film marks the new 18 month cycle between Potter movies, after the first two were created with just one year in between; it is also the first without the then passed away Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore, with Michael Gambon taking over the part. Grint and Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast (2017)) were each paid 125k $ for their performances. Shooting took place from February - November 2003 in England, including in London, and in Scotland. The film opened #1 to a 93.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained #1 for a 2nd weekend and then stayed another weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 249.5 mil. $ (31.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 121.6 mil. $ (15.2 %) and the UK with 84.1 mil. $ (10.5 %). Although the film set opening weekend records in the UK, and was the 2nd highest-grossing film of the year globally, it is the lowest-grossing in the Potter franchise. It was nominated for 2 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Score (John Williams (Heidi (1968, TV movie))) to Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Finding Neverland, and Visual Effects to Spider-Man 2. The film won 2/6 BAFTA nominations, an AFI award and was nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Cuarón returned with Paris, Je t'Aime (2006, segment) and theatrically with Children of Men (2006). Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)), Watson and Grint returned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005); Grint had a voicing stint in between in Happy Birthday, Peter Pan (2005, TV documentary). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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