Monday, June 7, 2004

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER




Fantasy

BACKGROUND
This is the third book in the series written by author J.K. Rowling

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Daniel Radcliffe: Harry Potter
Rupert Grint: Ron Weasley, Harry’s best friend
Emma Watson: Hermione Granger, another good friend of Harry’s
Michael Gambon: Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
David Thewlis: Professor Lupin, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher
Robbie Coltrane: Professor Hagrid, the gentle giant
Emma Thompson: Professor Trelawney, Divination instructor and bit of a nut case
Alan Rickman: Professor Severus Snape, who is somewhat strange
Maggie Smith: Professor Minerva McGonagall with her witch’s hat
Gary Oldman: Sirius Black, the only person who has ever escaped from Azkaban Prison

REVIEW
If you are a dedicated fan of Harry Potter et al this movie must be wonderful. It’s very long, has a vast range of creatures (shrunken talking heads, nasty dementors, scary werewolves etc) and a story line that is so confusing it takes some real sorting out to figure out what’s going on.

On the other hand if you are a casual movie viewer who is somewhat older than the target audience the movie can be one of drudgery: the story is not that compelling that it takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to be told. And the layers of intrigue serve only to “muddy the waters”. For example Sirus Black who escaped from prison was at one time the best friend of Harry’s father and in fact is Harry’s godfather but apparently involved in the murder of Harry’s parents and now for some reason wants to kill Harry. But that’s what the fantasy world is all about so you better be prepared for it.

CLASSIFICATION
for frightening moments, creature violence and mild language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
When Harry approaches Buckbeak the hippogriff (half-horse/half-eagle creature) one end of his tie is much longer than the other; while riding Buckbeak the ends are the same length.

When Buckbeak lands with Harry on his back their shadow is at right angles to the sun and only gets aligned with the other shadows after Buckbeak takes a couple of steps.

When Buckbeak gallops it sounds like a horse with four hooves; but with its two forelegs having claws not hooves it wouldn’t sound like that.

While Hagrid is skipping stones across the lake, there is a distinct long, low level cloud on the horizon. The final shot in this sequence is a wide angle view and the cloud has disappeared.

When a stone is thrown through Hagrid’s window it knocks off the front part of a jar and the seeds spill out; later when Harry and Hermione see the same scene replayed through the Time Turner the stone shatters the jar completely.

When Hermione punchs Malfoy it’s a real dandy starting by first spinning around then landing a solid shot to his face; viewing it again later through the Time Turner she smacks him straight away without any spin.

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