The Prisoner of Azkaban (POA) is a cinematic masterpiece and has been my favorite Potter movie since I first watched it 10 years ago. My top choice has never fluctuated for the reasons I’m about to list for you. Hopefully, I can convince you that it’s the best movie.
The music is absolutely fantastic. It makes me feel so many things. There is hope, wonder, awe, sadness, happiness, fear, excitement, everything and anything you could ever wish for. Some of my favorite scores are “Buckbeak’s Flight”, “Double Trouble”, and “The Patronus Light”. Admittedly, I love every single song on the track because these movies were my childhood, but if I had to narrow it down to a few, the aforementioned take the cake.
Pacing. The movie is paced extremely well. I’m never bored because of the way that the scenes are craftily executed. Alfonso Cuaron is an amazing director, and I’m disappointed that this was his only Harry Potter film, because he did a wonderful job. There aren’t many Harry Potter movies where I love the beginning/first 30 minutes, but POA is one where I am hooked immediately. A handful of the other movies start too slow or take too long to get interesting, but POA starts off action-packed, even with the intro and the title of the movie on screen Harry is casting the spell “lumos” and it makes for an engaging start to the movie, plus the whole scene with Aunt Marge and the Leaky Cauldron. Even as the movie progresses, there is an excellent mix of class scenes, extracurricular scenes, activities, and extra miscellaneous scenes that add so much depth to the movie and the characters. Every scene is so thoughtful and well-planned. In books, writers are constantly told that if it doesn’t enhance or progress the plot, to take it out. I have always thought that every scene in POA is intentional and has meaning and enhances the plot in some way. I think that’s what makes me like this movie the best, as opposed to some of the others; everything is intentional and makes sense.
The visuals are stellar. The shots in this movie leave me speechless. The scene where the students get to Hogwarts and the choir is singing “double double toil and trouble” as the carriages splash through the rain is just a gorgeous shot. Harry’s flight on Buckbeak is amazing, with them gliding over the water as the castle looms in the background. That scene is probably my favorite in the entirety of the franchise. The various shots of the whomping willow as the school year progresses are magnificent. There is a scene where we see all the leaves fall off as it enters fall, and then later the colorful flowers and leaves flowing in the breeze as a bird swoops in to show spring. That was an excellent choice of how to depict time progressing in the movie, and the poet in me is fawning over that decision. Another one of my favorite scenes is in the last 15 minutes of the movie, where Sirius takes flight on Buckbeak (see a pattern here?) and leaves Hogwarts close to midnight. He takes off with the moon illuminating their flight, and the music in the background seals the deal for me.
The dialogue is great and feels natural. There are dozens of moments between characters where the dialogue is truly spectacular. Harry and Professor Lupin’s talk on the bridge, the kids teasing each other as the Fat Lady’s missing from her portrait, Hermione and Ron bickering at the Leaky Cauldron, the trio talking to Hagrid, etc. It all feels like what 13-year-olds would say and how they would speak to each other for their age. There is awkwardness, kindness, teasing, and every emotion you could think of is shown through the dialogue in this film. This skill is vital because it truly immerses the viewer into the movie and makes them feel like they would get along with these characters because of how natural it feels.
Everything about POA is perfect, down to the last detail. The director, Alfonso Cuaron, was only on the directing cast for this movie, but he sure made his mark. Chris Columbus, who directed the first two, brought a childlike wonder to the movies, and they felt so magical. Mike Newell and David Yates, who directed the fourth and then the fifth and sixth movies respectively, brought a darker tone to the movies that is appreciated in the later years. Alfonso Cuaron had that middle movie, before it gets too dark, but where the kids aren’t kids anymore, and I think he executed it masterfully. There’s still enough friendly banter and childlike wonder, but there’s also an ominous presence that hints at darker themes to come. He captured the transition from childhood into adolescence perfectly, and that’s just one other reason why this movie has my heart.