HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004) **1/2 Throughout which Alfonso Cuarón saves the cinematic franchise. Finally a film deserving of the great effects! Cuarón works the story with emphasis on the mysterious nature of the metaphysics, rather than passing off what is an essentially irrational framework as commonplace. It doesn't hurt to concede that witches and warlocks and magic are interesting, and unusual. Richard Harris is gone, of course, and Michael Gambon is barely tolerable as even a background Dumbledore, but the new characters carry the film. Julie Christie exhibits every perfect nuance as the spacey side of the occult, and Gary Oldman and David Thewlis are magnificent portraying the two wings of '70s radicalism, still trying to find their place in the contemporary social landscape. Thewlis even has that academically gaunt, haunted look of a radical busted thirty years later while contributing to contemporary culture in a more meaningful way than the busters did in either era. A socialist student during the day, J. K. Rowling has something to say about the unpredictable nature of events once the kids flex and test their magic potentialities, and her statement is both commendable and clear. The returning cast is pretty much as you remember it from the first two, with the dramatic exception of Emma Watson, who has-against any expectation-grown into being a very good actress. J. K. allows her characters to grow up in realistic ways, considering the material, and the young actors have obliged by growing towards their roles. I couldn't speculate on causation, but if I did I wouldn't omit altar-egos and the encompassing nature of media machines. Bow, bow to the hippogriff (don't test shampoos on it)!
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