HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004)  ***1/2

Reviewed 6/4/04

In HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, director Alfonso Cuaron easily delivers the best Harry Potter movie so far, though he has the advantage of adapting the best book of the series so far. For once, Hermione (Emma Watson) doesn’t play second fiddle to star Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) simply by virtue of his name being in the title. Making the movie less cartoonish than Chris Columbus’ versions, Cuaron throws in the occasional handheld camera and high-contrast lighting effects. He also opens the movie up by setting half of it outdoors instead of more artificial interior sets. Hogwarts castle suddenly has a grander majesty, and the most magical moment in the film, supplying a greater sense of wonder in this fictional universe than anything that has come before, has Harry taking flight on a hippogriff above the lake overlooking Hogswarts. The three leads, Radcliffe, Watson, and Rupert Grint, who plays Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley, are all in their most gawky stage of adolescence, and Cuaron is wise to drape them in modern casual clothing instead of their Hogwarts uniforms. Hints of a Hermione/Ron romance are cute. The plot of a prison escapee who may want to murder Harry is carefully set up and pays off with ample twists and turns. The cast reads like a who’s who of British stars – Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith,  David Thewlis (making a nice return to form), Emma Thompson, and in a funny cameo, Timothy Spall.