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Something Wicked This Way Comes
June 29, 2004, 10:12 p.m. I saw Prisoner of Azkaban tonight. Oh. My. Lord. So, so, so good. I love it so much, it was brilliant. Immeasurably better than the first two. I heartily recommend that you see it. For a start, it was just beautifully shot. At one point, I turned to Melodrama, who I saw it with, mouth agape, and just said “Wow!”. The change of seasons was brilliant. The setting is different – before, Hogwarts looked like it was in some kind of sheep country in the middle of England. Now, it looks like it’s in the Scottish Highlands, and it’s wonderful. So goddamn atmospheric. The music was great too – I especially loved the jazz. What really surprised me was the personality that was imbued into the CGI. The Whomping Willow and Buckbeak were just bursting with it. The Willow was a bitchy, grouchy old thing, but it kept beating up a twittering little bird, so that’s okay. Buckbeak was haughty and contrary, but full of life. You could empathise with the both of them, even though they had no lines. Masterful animation. The kids can finally act – although some of the lines came off badly, most of the time you bought into their emotions. Draco was as sneering as ever, but his hair was very badly dyed – dude, do the eyebrows as well! Neville has grown up a hell of a lot – I totally didn’t recognise him. Hermione’s hair isn’t as bushy as it once was, which is a little disappointing. Harry – Harry’s hair was finally all over the place. Oh, it seems like all I can think about is their hair! Sorry! The movie was funny, too. Draco was a snivelling little idiot, but Ron and Harry had the best funny scene. There was a hell of a lot going on in the background too – The Leaky Cauldron was full of little things, like self-stirring tea cups and self-pouring teapots. Quotes from Macbeth. Look out for the giraffe at Hogwarts – not to be missed. But what was amazing above all else was the fact that it actually had symbolism in it. Yes, like a real movie and everything! Check out the use of reflections, and flight, and this wonderfully clock-work-y clock that’s suddenly turned up in Hogwarts. My god, the difference a director makes! There were things that disappointed me though – a lot was left unexplained. The Shrieking Shack scene would have been nigh on indecipherable to anyone who hadn’t read the book. It’s never explained exactly why Sirius escaped from Azkaban – or how. The Marauder’s Map, and more importantly who wrote it, is never explained. Snape’s potion was left out – which left him painted more as a villain. His last visit to the Shack was also not mentioned. And Ron, poor Ron – all he ever seem to do was get scared and scream. Granted, he’s incapacitated in the final battle, but I wish they’d left him with his line – “If you’re going to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us first,” – otherwise he just seems cowardly. And he’s not, otherwise he wouldn’t be in Gryffindor. Despite that, brilliant, brilliant movie. Want to see it again, so much.
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