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Once again Harry Potter
is treated poorly by the Dursley family and he retaliates with a
bit of harmless magic that causes troubles for overweight Uncle
Vernon (Richard Griffiths). It’s a clever way to start each
film, creating a sense of uniformity and continuity for the series.
It also helps illustrate the way Harry is growing up and allows
the audience to relate to and enjoy the journey with him. For the
first time, directing credits go to a new talent, Alfonso Cuaron
(Y tu mama tambien, Children of Men), and Potter’s predicaments
become more serious. Unfortunately many of the ideas also become
more nonsensical.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns for the third year at
Hogwarts school for wizards, for the third time has a new Defense
Against the Dark Arts instructor (David Thewlis as Professor Lupin),
and rejoins his good friends Hermione (Emma Watson), the “insufferable
know-it-all,” and red-headed Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint).
Notorious double-crossing criminal Sirius Black (Gary Oldman)
has broken out of the inescapable Azkaban Prison and now searches
for Harry Potter to exact revenge. Meanwhile, Hagrid is promoted
to a teacher and wraithlike, demonic, soul-sucking, memory-purging
Azkaban guards search for their missing convict. |
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The foulest of all creatures,
Dementors, are a cool new tool of evil sorcery from the mind of
author J.K. Rowling, but as the villains become more malevolent,
the allies get goofier. A campy monster “Book of Monsters,”
a transforming bus guided by a talking shrunken head, and the absent-minded
Sybil Trelawney (Emma Thompson) who teaches the rather unimportant
and undemonstrated art of divination, are some of the less appealing
ideas. The themes are a little darker, but not by much. At least
the addition of superb character actor Gary Oldman is thoroughly
entertaining, if not tragically underused.
“Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time, Harry,”
warns Hermione. Would she be referring to plausibility, perhaps?
And so the Harry Potter universe tackles time travel, a naturally
sticky, complex and outlandish premise. Interestingly enough,
it’s one of the most unique approaches to time travel in
film, presenting the audience with an initial chain of events
that already includes future characters. Present and future timelines
coexist, first without letting the audience know about it, and
again as the characters retrace their steps, literally watching
the past. It’s actually a little neater and less mind-boggling
than most similar plots – at least until the timelines merge.
Never mind that Harry is saving himself before he goes back in
time… to save himself. Or that the potential failure of
saving his future self has never before affected his present,
time-traveling self. Definitely not foolproof, like almost every
time travel explanation, it’s a new, creative angle. And
it’s one more science-fiction/fantasy element to add to
the Harry Potter repertoire.
Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I Read the Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
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