After the successful releases of 'The Philosopher's Stone' and 'Chamber of Secrets', Warner Bros took a well earned year off from releasing Harry Potter films. The other reason was also because of Richard Harris' death and that they needed a new actor to play Albus Dumbledore. That actor ended up being Michael Gambon, who- coincidentally enough- had also been considered for the role originally before Harris' casting.
Christopher Columbus meanwhile had bowed out as director, leaving the job for Italian horror film director Alfonso Cuaron. A good choice as it turned out since 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' was supposed to be a children's horror story despite the director being more well known for adult horror films (I personally would've gone with Tim Burton).
John Williams returns once more for the film's score but it would be his last on the Harry Potter franchise; he retired shortly afterwards after working on 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith'.
The story starts off with Harry trying to do his homework by wand-light at night underneath his bed sheets. This is because his aunt and uncle have confiscated Harry's schoolbooks (and broomstick). Harry's uncle tries to catch Harry in the act but fails as every time he comes into the boy's room, Harry looks as though he's asleep.
The next day, Harry's Aunt Marge (his uncle's sister) comes to visit with her dog. "Huh, you're still here?" she asks disgustedly at him. "Yes" Harry replies, clearly annoyed with her as she is with him.
As the evening drags on (for Harry at least) Aunt Marge gets more and more drunk. With every drink her insults about Harry and his family double. That is until Harry finally snaps and Uncle Vernon tries to smooth things over by suggesting Harry goes upstairs to bed. Aunt Marge drunkenly demands that Harry cleans up after his anger accidentally causes her glass to break. "Don't worry Petunia; I've a very firm grip!" a drunken Aunt Marge reassures Aunt Petunia, clearly unaware of Harry's magical abilities.
She then carries on insulting Harry's family, especially James, Harry's father. Not being able to control himself for very long, he shouts at Aunt Marge. Before she can react however, she realises that she is suddenly inflating like a balloon. Before anyone realises what's happening- Harry in particular- she's suddenly floating out the house.
"You put her back right now!" Uncle Vernon demands angrily but Harry refuses to do so; and leaves in anger.
For its time, 'Prisoner of Azkaban' had excellent visual and special effects. In my opinion it had the best visual and special effects of the series and still holds up to this day. Especially if you try and compare it to anything from Disney or the recent (and horrible) 'Fantastic Beasts' films.
The John Williams score is also the highlight of the film for me. As much as the score on 'The Philosopher's Stone' was iconic, this is the best from John Williams in the Harry Potter series. My personal favourite is 'A Window Into the Past' although the unexpected musical moment in the form of Shakespearian poem 'Double Trouble' from 'Macbeth' comes at a close second.
Alfonso Cuaron's directing style is also another highlight for me and it's a shame that he never stuck around for the rest of the Harry Potter series as I really liked what he did with 'Prisoner of Azkaban'.
Over all, a good film in general and one of the better earlier Harry Potter films. I'm still going to complain about the lack of Quidditch scenes though!
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