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HARRY
POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
4/10
USA
2004 : Alfonso CUARON : 141 mins
In Harry
Potter III, according to the poster "Everything will change."
Unfortunately, this turns out to be a classic case of plus ca change,
plus ca reste: the Potter films have now become a full-blown franchise,
and no matter who takes the overall reins - Y
Tu Mama Tambien's Cuaron here replaces Philosopher's
Stone and Chamber
of Secrets' Chris Columbus - the deadening don't-screw-it-up
mantra familiar to all directors entrusted with the James Bond series
is firmly in place. Azkaban in some ways does represent
an improvement on the first two episodes, but that's not exactly saying
a great deal: and it certainly doesn't do enough to suggest that non-aficionados
should bother with the next chapter, The Goblet of Fire, to which
Mike Newell has been depressingly (and, post-Mona
Lisa Smile, somewhat strangely) already attached.
The plot is
the same-old same-old same-old: in a sub-sub-sub-Roald Dahl prologue young
Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) endures grief from his non-magical relatives
(Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw). Makes his way to Hogwarts school, in
company with loyal pals Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson).
At the school, a 'name' Brit thesp has larkish fun as a daffy teacher
(Emma Thompson as Prof Trelawney); Harry and pals receive counsel from
headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon replacing the late Richard Harris),
a mild ticking-off from second-in-command McGonagall (Maggie Smith), and
pastoral care from gentle-giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane); Harry mopes
over death of his "parents" (who will obviously prove nothing
of the sort in later episodes); Harry and pals endure mild grief from
bully Draco (Tom Felton); more serious adult peril hovers on sidelines
(Gary Oldman as renegade wizard Sirius Black, recently escaped from Azkaban
Prison); protection may or may not be provided by seemingly-friendly teacher
who harbours a secret (David Thewlis as Prof Lupin); sinister Prof Snape
(Alan Rickman) glowers demonically, only to prove good egg when push comes
to shove. Etc etc etc.
The recipe
is familiar from the last two Potter movies and it's getting mighty repetitive
and very dull third time around. Cuaron and new cinematographer Michael
Seresin (replacing Roger Pratt) tone down the colour-scheme to a muted
blue-grey palette, and there are one or two moments of magic courtesy
of the legendarily legendary Hippogriff ("The Great American Novel
is not distinct like the Dodo, but imaginary like the Hippogriff"
- John Barth). And adult viewers will be amused and bemused by the star
cameos dotted around the place, including a genuinely head-scratching
Hitchcock-style cameo from Stone Roses front-man Ian Brown very early
on, and an absurdly brief turn from none other than Julie Christie as
a hard-faced landlady in an snowbound village - some kind of film-buff
nod to McCabe and Mrs Miller, presumably.
But the bigger
picture just doesn't hang together very well. Revenant scriptwriter Steve
Kloves - who once had a glittering career writing proper pictures - still
can't quite manage to fit the J K Rowling quart (each book longer than
the last) into a cinematic pint pot (are the books simply unfilmable?
or simply rubbish?). This time the pace drags and drags as, through the
first two-thirds, we're told and told again about Sirius Black - until
Black finally pops up about an hour and a half in, and the storytelling
suddenly speeds up to the point of almost total incoherence.
The overrated
Y Tu Mama Tambien also had problems in the pacing and scriptwriting
department, but at least that picture didn't stoop to that most shamelessly
lazy of scriptwriting get-outs, the deployment of time-travel to cheatingly
erase tragic events. This isn't a terrible film as such - but many cinemagoers
will surely wish they could perform a similar trick and spirit themselves
back to the point where they bought their Prisoner of Azkaban ticket,
in the (vain) hope that something, anything, had truly changed.
11th June,
2004
(seen same day : UGC, Boldon : public show)
by Neil
Young
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