This is another puzzling result for me. While reading the book, I was building up watching the movie so much in my head as this was my favorite movie out of the first three, but I couldn't help but find it lacking.
Now this film is not bad, not at all. To say this movie is bad would be wrong, but what it does suffer from is the unshakable "incomplete" feeling. The film doesn't rush the plot, not completely, but it doesn't ever find any sure footing in pacing or its storytelling. It's far better than its predecessor Chamber of Secrets, which was quite literally all over the place.
Now I'll say something else that I'm sure will be unpopular. I honestly didn't find the book to be all that much better, either. The film cuts through the majority of the book to focus on the primary plot. J. K. Rowling, in my opinion, stretched things out to focus on subplots and events that were not all that interesting. Granted, some of these subplots and events are crucial to the overall plot. I still couldn't help but feel that the book scenes lingered and felt longer than they needed to be.
Now, some of these details are good to have for background knowledge and could be used to fill in the gaps for the film if the writers and filmmakers inserted those details. But they seem transfixed to just hitting those major plot points, which is a shame because it gives the film that rushed feeling.
Irregardless, while Prisoner of Azkaban has its issues, both book and film, it's still an enjoyable entry in the Harry Potter series.
IMDb: 7/10 Letterboxd: 3/5
Watched on Vudu in 4k HDR10.
Now this film is not bad, not at all. To say this movie is bad would be wrong, but what it does suffer from is the unshakable "incomplete" feeling. The film doesn't rush the plot, not completely, but it doesn't ever find any sure footing in pacing or its storytelling. It's far better than its predecessor Chamber of Secrets, which was quite literally all over the place.
Now I'll say something else that I'm sure will be unpopular. I honestly didn't find the book to be all that much better, either. The film cuts through the majority of the book to focus on the primary plot. J. K. Rowling, in my opinion, stretched things out to focus on subplots and events that were not all that interesting. Granted, some of these subplots and events are crucial to the overall plot. I still couldn't help but feel that the book scenes lingered and felt longer than they needed to be.
Now, some of these details are good to have for background knowledge and could be used to fill in the gaps for the film if the writers and filmmakers inserted those details. But they seem transfixed to just hitting those major plot points, which is a shame because it gives the film that rushed feeling.
Irregardless, while Prisoner of Azkaban has its issues, both book and film, it's still an enjoyable entry in the Harry Potter series.
IMDb: 7/10 Letterboxd: 3/5
Watched on Vudu in 4k HDR10.
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