MovieChat Forums > Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Discussion > I watched all but the last HP movie, the...

I watched all but the last HP movie, then read the books...

posted 8 years ago by Lachlan-smith
3 replies | jump to latest

... and I can say without a doubt that this was a masterpiece.

I write this, because I see that most of the criticism of this movie goes on about a few things, namely:

* The differences in character behavior

* Omitted information

This is the turning point of the series, from kiddy movies to something that can hold the interest of kids, teenagers and adults alike.
I've read on these forums that omitting the backstory of the Marauders Map is "unforgivable", but the person who wrote this undoubtably read the books first. This information is not missed.
Someone said that omitted information was an indication that the movie was "tailored" for people who had already read the books, but this isn't true. As with any book-to-movie adaption, things have to be cut out, and the best stuff to cut is the extra information. The lore, the detail. As interesting as the information is, can you imagine the info-dump in the shrieking shack translating to film? That scene was exhausting to read (not boring), imagine if you could actually hear the yelling and arguing. Excessive information is probably the big difference between the book and film universe, and it was handled perfectly.

[–] terry_hurley 8 years ago

I agree. The first 2 films, for me, were unimaginative. Columbus showed little imagination , and almost literally just filmed, what was on the page, with little to no flourish. POA has imagination dripping off the screen. I had read all the books before seeing the films, and while watching the first 2, I became bored. If you are going to do such a literal translation, there seems to be little point in making a film, because all I did while watching the film, was tick boxes after the scenes from the book, made it to the film. But, with POA, almost from the first scene, the book became a distant memory, and even though I had read POA, by the end of the film, I was on tenterhooks . A great great film, and for me, the film that turned the franchise from a boring, unimaginative telling of the books, to an exciting , fun, and most gripping film series

[–] HEYitzED 8 years ago

Now you know that is just a lie. Chris Columbus masterfully recreated the first two books. Sure they were 100% faithful but they were also shorter books than the rest of the series. The first two films are magical. Sure, this is where the series turns into more of an adult series and it was for the best, but the first two films are still brilliant.

[–] keithbrown-90195 8 years ago

Totally agree as well. And this is the only film in the series where the magical world feels like a real, tangible place, doesn't it?