Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is back at school for his third year of studies, with his two best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).
But of course, nothing for Harry is ever easy, and this year, he is a boy in great danger. Notorious criminal Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from the wizard prison Azkaban, and is believed to be coming after Harry, whom he blames for the death of his old master, Voldemort. (At least that is how the story appears for most of the film).
Of course, as with every other year, there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This year, it is Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) who, as it turns out, went to school with Harry's parents. He takes a real shining to Harry, and the two become quite close, especially as Harry seems to be showing great aptitude in this class.
There is another new teacher, or rather, a new class that the students are taking. It is Divination, taught by the incredibly eccentric Professor Sybil Trelawney (Emma Thompson).
Even Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) is a teacher this year, teaching the Care of Magical Creatures class, a class it seems he was born to teach.
In order to protect the students at the school from any attacks by Sirius Black, the guards of Azkaban prison, strange spectral beings called Dementors, have been posted around the grounds to keep watch. But one wonders who they really answer to when they enter the grounds - against the wishes of headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).
The screenplay, again written by Steve Kloves, who also adapted the first two films in the series, is a relatively decent adaptation of the book on which it is based. A large number of cuts were made, from what some readers feel were significant moments of plot and/or character, but which still seem to work nonetheless. Of course, one must remember that a book and a film are quite separate entities, and any adaptation from one medium to the other is bound to be fraught with difficulty in some parts.
Under the direction of Alfonso Cuarón, this film feels very different from the previous two films. In fact, it feels very different from every other film in the series, and not necessarily in a good way. Cuarón has the students in normal 'Muggle' clothing rather than their traditional wizarding robes, and there are a lot of personal touches he brings to the film that make it feel very 'un-Potter-like', at least as far as all the other films in the series go.
Adding to this different feel is a new actor playing the role of headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Of course, this was a necessity, as Richard Harris, who played the role in the first two films, had tragically passed away before the second film was released (though obviously after it had been filmed). Gambon does his best to bring the role to life, but sadly, I don't think he does it as well as Harris did. For me, Richard Harris will always be Dumbledore, whereas Gambon will only ever be someone who tried to fill those shoes and sadly fell short.
There are some interesting turns of events in the final third of the film, as a time-travel subplot comes into play. As with any film that deals with the very concept of time travel, there are many interesting points that appear earlier in the film and reappear in a different timeline from a different viewpoint and make sense in a different way. This may seem like a very convoluted sentence that doesn't make a lot of sense, but if you've seen the film, you will know what I mean. And if you haven't seen the film, then hopefully it won't spoil it for you.
Aside from the change of director, the majority of the crew are the same as they have been for the previous two films. So, we get a very similar feel from Stuart Craig's production design, that at least tries to tie this into the series, and place it right between parts two and four seamlessly.
John Williams's score has echoes of his previous work on the two earlier films, yet has enough new themes and motifs to be considered a new project. Naturally, as with anything he writes, his score here is perfect.
But I don't think these things alone are enough to redeem this film. Cuarón may be an incredibly gifted director, but in my opinion, his involvement has actually ruined what could have been a much better film in the hands of another director.
6 out of 10.
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