Harry Potter 3 & 4

Welcome to the 29th edition of My Fortnightly Movie/TV Thoughts!  Last fortnight, I reviewed Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).  This fortnight, I’m reviewing:

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), rated PG for some fantasy scenes may frighten young children
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), rated M for moderate dark themes, moderate fantasy violence

Those of course are the Australian ratings; in the United States, the ratings are:

• Prisoner of Azkaban – PG for frightening moments, creature violence and mild language
• Goblet of Fire – PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images

As usual, I’ll give the trailers at the end, and a clip each.

And as usual, I offer the following disclaimer, just to be safe:

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD.  PROCEED AT OWN RISK.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In one of these early movies, Harry Potter declares “I love magic!”  Well, I love Harry Potter!  Whereas the first two films were darkish, but ultimately fun, family-friendly films, from Alfonso Cuaron’s Prisoner of Azkaban onward, the series takes on the darker tone that became famous.  The transition between tones isn’t entirely smooth, but this is Harry Potter – it comes out damn good in the end!

A year after the events of Chamber of Secrets, a somewhat broody 13-year-old Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts – after a nearly-disastrous incident where Harry lost his temper at a nasty Muggle woman, and after noticing he is tailed by a mysterious black hound – where he discovers that Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who is serving his sentence in Azkaban Prison for betraying Harry’s parents to Lord Voldemort, along with several murders – has escaped, apparently intending to kill Harry.

First off, I’ll get the stuff I don’t like out of the way: the first thing I didn’t like was the Aunt Marge scene.  Yes, she was horrible.  Yes, it shows how easily Harry could go down the dark side if he wasn’t careful.  That still didn’t stop me from feeling uncomfortable watching it (although it turned out alright in the end).

Second of all, the talking shrunken heads in the wizard bus.  A little too macabre for my liking.

And finally, the introduction of divination to the Harry Potter world – although it was/is portrayed as possibly loony, and the classes did play a role in the plot.

OK, that’s the quibbles out of the way.  Now for the good stuff – which is pretty much everything else.  For one, overall, I did like the darker tone.  It definitely fit the plot, and aided it.  It helped make the film more mature.  It was, on the whole, thoroughly engrossing.  SPOILER ALERT Parents be aware, though, that the werewolf scene may scare some children.  END SPOILER

I also liked all that it brought/introduced to the Wizarding World and its lore: werewolves, anamaguses, several character revelations and counter-revelations, and the personal history brought into greater light.  However, the biggest – and best – impact it had is the introduction of the Dementors: cruel, horrible, ghastly creatures that guard Azkaban – and until Sirius Black’s capture, Hogwarts.

And don’t forget the Patronus Charm, which becomes important – both in this and later movies.

The most fun addition, though, is the Marauder’s Map.  “I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good…”

And I really like the plot; not only the plot itself, but the way it’s constructed.  It’s possibly one of the most surprise- and mystery-filled Harry Potter/Wizarding World movies to date, with many surprising twists and turns, all cleverly hinted at in such a way that you only notice the hints on rewatch/reflection.  I’ve also deliberately left out one of the best things it adds to the universe – it’s a major spoiler!

The cast, as usual, is excellent.  Alan Rickman delivers a spectacular performance as Professor Severus Snape, one only matched by the last 3 films.  Some surprising shades to his character begin to show.

Gary Oldman provides a fantastic performance as Sirius Black, Azkaban’s escaped inmate – and Harry’s godfather.

David Thewlis is also fantastic as Professor Remus Lupin, Hogwarts’ latest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher – and one who actually knows his craft.

Veteran actor Michael Gambon – a legend, in my opinion – takes over as Professor Dumbledore from the late Richard Harris in this film.  Although I didn’t initially cotton to him, he provides a typically good performance, and I’ve since warmed up to him.

And of course, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint once again prove they’re the best actors to play Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley!

As usual, the movie has great visuals – and an awesome, somewhat emotional climax!

The movie also contains my single favourite Harry Potter shot (one of my favourite shots, ever): (followed by the iconic “Turn to page 394”)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a stellar installment in the magical franchise that I’ve grown to appreciate more over time.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter finally went M-rated (or for you Yanks, PG-13-rated) with the 4th installment; becoming more mature, more for older audiences, more “grown up”.  Thankfully, however, it not only matches all of its predecessors – it exceeds them!

A year after the previous film, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) experiences a vivid nightmare of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) murdering an elderly Muggle, and conspiring with Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall) and one other, which dream is implied to have really occurred.  Harry and his friends attend the Quidditch World Cup between Ireland and Bulgaria, but the game is interrupted by Death Eaters, whom Harry is almost (wrongly) blamed for summoning.

At the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) announces the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody (Brendan Gleeson), a famous former Auror.  Dumbledore also announces that Hogwarts will also be host to the first Triwizard Tournament in centuries – although only persons 17 and older can apply – with students from Europe’s other two wizarding schools, the Durmstrang Institute and the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, arriving to take part in the competition.  Romance – and tensions – start brewing, while Harry’s name mysteriously winds up in the Goblet of Fire – meaning he’s in the Tournament, up against dragons and other beasts.

I do believe it was at this point in the series that I just sat back and thoroughly enjoyed everything I saw (hard to explain; an occasional quirk of mine when I get settled into something).  And there is much to enjoy!

For one, there’s the character of Mad-Eye Moody; fun, but gruff, and excellently portrayed by Brendan Gleeson.

This film also introduces the brilliant Ralph Fiennes as the evil Lord Voldemort, who finally returns from beyond the grave.  As usual, an excellent casting choice; one of the truly Great villains.

And then there’s Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter, a journalist of… questionable integrity.  An excellent performance of a shady character.

Another surprisingly good thing is the darker, more mature tone.  Yes, Prisoner of Azkaban was a touch darker and more mature than Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets; however, Goblet of Fire goes even further – both in dark tone and mature content.  There are one or two moments that are actually a little disturbing – I recommend parents watch the film themselves before letting their kids watch it – but overall, they nailed it.  And it is actually kinda fun to watch.

I also rather enjoyed the romantic element of the film; there are multiple plotlines here – mostly between students of different schools – but I thought they were handled rather well.  (Particularly between Harry and Cho Chang and Hagrid and Madame Maxine.)  This ties into another great thing about the film: it’s character development.

And as usual, the film boasts great special effects – possibly even better than previous movies!

I also liked Moaning Myrtle’s reappearance, and Shirley Henderson’s reprisal of the role is excellent.

The movie also advances the franchise’s overall story arc quite a bit – and the plot itself is quite good (and as mentioned, fun to watch).  As usual, some (genuinely) surprising twists and turns.  The action scenes are great – as is the attempts to solve the clues in winning the Tournament (and the Tournament itself).  It’s also great to get a glimpse of the international Wizarding community – and the vague, but tantalising hints of the relationship between the Wizarding and Muggle governments (such as the remark about having to get the Muggle British Prime Minister’s permission to import dragons for the Tournament).  In fact, I’d argue that Goblet of Fire is the best of the first 4 Potter movies.  All in all, 100 points to Mike Newell!  (That’s a joke only fellow Potterheads will get.)

The Prisoner of Azkaban trailer:

The Goblet of Fire trailer:

A Prisoner of Azkaban clip:

A Goblet of Fire clip:

[What do you think of these films?  Be sure to let me know in the comments!  Also, send me your review for any movie, and I’ll post it on this site.]

Index of films

http://www.cepher.net/?af=59