Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Fire

With the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there was somewhat of a shake up when it came to the making of these movies. Chris Columbus decided to bow out as director of the third film and the search began for a replacement to take over the next film. Loads of names were tossed around, but with a big project such as this, there is always names that come and go.

In the end, they settled on Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, know for such films as the critcially acclaimed Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is known for its extreme sexual content, and the film adaptions of A Little Princess and, afterwards,  Children of Men. To me, he didn't really seem to fit the expected mold. There was just something about the way he adapted A Little Princess that never sat well with me. It always felt like it went way to far away from the source material, but not in a terrible way, just enough hat it felt like it was only giving slight nods to the book. I was more than a bit worried.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is an interesting film. It shows that sometimes the established and expected norm can change, and with it comes a big breath of fresh air. Except for the fact that there is a huge budget behind this thing, this could amost be a fanasty indepant film, as it has that sort of sensabilty to it. 

Chris and his films felt a bit tired after the second film. Chamber still had too much presentation in it, it still had that weird paint by numbers feel, it still has very little in the area of surprise. In some ways, it was getting dull. This was apparently an assessment shared by others. 


After the second movie, somebody felt the need to want to re-launch the series, even taking it as far as redesigning parts of the established school buildings and designs. Alfonso's Hogworts, while still very similar to its earlier versions, have changed just enough to be quite noticeable which is both frustrating and interesting. Still, they are good changes, some welcomed, in fact.  An example of this being Hagrid's hut is further away from the school and down a hill. Such a simple change that makes the grounds, and therefore the castle, feel that much more spread out. Hogwarts isn't just a little place for students to go and study. Hogwarts is now a huge and spread out compound where people go to learn magic. 

Harry Potter and the First Two Movies

Harry Potter films are debatable. Ask any fan and they will tell you which one they like above the rest, and which one they aren't too crazy about. A good test would be, if that movie is on and you just happen to come upon it, do you turn the channel, because that is the film that you just don't want to watch, or do you continue watching it, because you just can't get enough? 


Having watched these recently again on the big screen, I am able to make a judgement call of my own.


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is not my favorite. 

And why is that, you ask?


Sorcerer's Stone is an uphill battle the entire time. From the moment the movie opens, it has a very presentation feel to it. What do I mean by that? Simple, everything feels like it has to be announced before it is allowed to continue. Of course, this was done because of this being the first movie, it needed to have its characters, setting, and situations set up and brought the audience. If you haven't read the books, it does its job very well of giving you a lot of information. However, since this movie came out before the series was even half done, some of the choices that they went with feel out of place and lacking. Going back and looking at this movie feels like polite to a television show that will run for many seasons but is slowly, over time, began to ret-con itself.


The movie begins with the set up of this world, via John Williams' score and the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, here played by Richard Harris. Within the first five minutes we are introduced to Albus, Professor McGonagall (who is introduced to us via these words: "It is nice to see you this evening, (pause) Professor McGonagall." Now that we are properly introduced...), Hagrid, the word Muggle, Privet Drive, and Harry Potter as a baby. It's a lot to take in. A lot!


As the film progresses, it does introduction after introduction. Here's Ron, here's Hermione, here's the train, here's the hat, here's Draco, here's Quidditch, here's Nick, here's Snape, here's the story of Voldemort, here's Voldemort. It just goes on and on, which is why this film is such a challenge. The filmmakers HAD to do this stuff. They were required to do this stuff. They had to give us the old "Now coming to the stage, give a warm welcome for..."


The acting is, to be quite frank, wooden. Now, I am not talking about Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith and although at times there is a bit overacting they both rock their parts into greatness. No, I am talking about Ron, Harry, Heromine, Draco, and the rest of the kids. Basically, they are all trying, and you can see that on screen. I feel bad for them as they have so much weight and expectations on them as actors bringing these characters to life. One can almost say, that they got close to blowing it. Close.  But the dialog mixed with the so-so direction of, "now stand here, don't look towards the camera, and deliver the line," pretty much vindicates them. Chris Columbus is having trouble pulling off performances that don't feel distant and unrehearsed. Then there is the lack of development for such entities as Nick and the ghosts, the other kids in Gryffindor, and the main "villain," Quirrell. Basically they are given very little screen time, and for the most part, ham it up. Like I said before, it's rough.


I want to hit on the special effects here for a moment. I know that this was 2002, but those effects are terrible. The CGI looks cheap and not finished. The lack of motion capture makes these characters look like they live in a video game and the creatures that they meet are done so bad that they are actually distracting. And don't get me started on the Neville flying scene. Oy! Thank goodness they fixed this in later movies.