The Prisoner of Azkaban (From Barry And District News)

The Prisoner of Azkaban

EAGERLY awaited in the cinema, it only stands to reason that the third Harry Potter film flew straight to number one in the movie charts as soon as it was released.

Quite clearly the darkest of the series yet, The Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarn, is going to be either loved or hated by Potter fans - there will be no middle ground.

Heard among the many ringing voices of criticism will be the fact that this adaptation is not completely true to the book, but the plot is getting more involved and to stick rigidly to the text would have resulted in an extremely long running time. And while adults can get stuck in to Potter-fever, it is primarily aimed towards children.

The characters, Harry, Ron and Hermione are back and the story line is developing as they get older.

The focus of the film is on the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban, the infamous wizard prison which the movie should have been made more of perhaps, and his apparent dedication to exact his murderous revenge on Harry Potter.

Gary Oldman is tragically underused in the movie as Black, but he delivers a powerful and convincing performance and clearly had a great time filming.

The computer-generated characters (like the Hippogriff) are fantastic and while the film seems a little rushed now and again it holds itself together enjoyable.

However, if the directors are having trouble fitting the entire'Prisoner' into one movie, what they'll make of the thicker'Goblet of Fire' and'Order of the Phoenix' is anyone's guess. We could have another'Kill Bill' on our hands!

ENDS