Overall I was pleased with the movie. When they first started creating Harry Potter movies, I was terribly disappointed. They just weren't as good as the books, and I'd come to expect nothing less than brilliance from the Harry Potter books. Then I learned to seperate the books from the movies. From a movie standpoint, they're very good. They really only pale when compared to the books. So I stopped thinking in terms of books vs. movies and loved the movies for what they were. That being said, it is still impossible to look at the film for the first time and NOT compare it to the book. And this movie did have its ups and downs.

The Good: This movie is easily more gorgeous than either of the first two films. The color is brilliant and the scenery is perfect. Everything seemed more magical in Prisoner of Azkaban than they did in Sorceror's Stone or Chamber of Secrets. Also, the portrayal of Buckbeak was perfectly in line with what I saw in my mind's eye while reading the book.

When I heard that Gary Oldman was cast to play Sirius Black, I was very uneasy. Despite his illustrious career, the only way I can picture Mr. Oldman is as the drunk, spitting actor who kept Joey from getting to Monica and Chandler's wedding on time. I always pictured Sirius was ragged, but handsome underneath it all. No offense to Gary Oldman, but he doesn't strike me as handsome in the least. Ever since I saw The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (a truly horrible movie), I've only pictured Stuart Townsend (in his Dorian Grey getup) as Sirius Black. I know he's Irish and also too young to play Sirius, but I've always thought it. I'm glad to say I was completely wrong about Gary Oldman. He is the perfect Sirius. He captured his anger and desperation perfectly. I should know by now not to doubt the casting, since I also though Kenneth Branagh would make a lousy Gilderoy Lockhart and was proven wrong (though I still think Hugh Grant would have been brilliant in the role).

The last section of the movie, from the time Harry and Hermione used the time turner, was oustanding. It has to be hard to make a movie suspensful when 90% of the audiance knows the ending, but Alfonso Cuaron managed it. It was fast paced and exciting and I loved how Hermione totally took charge. I love strong women (even if they are only 13 years old).

The Bad: I felt as though the beginning of the movie was very rushed. Of the three movies made so far, the corresponding book was the longest of the three, and yet this was the shortest movie. We barely had time to know what was going on in one scene before they were moving on to another. The first half of the film, in fact, felt disjointed, as though they were simply acting out isolated scenes from the book rather than making a cohesive movie.

Lupin. Lupin, Lupin, Lupin. Lupin is my favorite character in the Harry Potter books. It's a silly favorite to have, but he's worked his way into my heart. One of the major themes of the books is discrimination, and Lupin faces it head on. But as much as I loved Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, I just couldn't make myself love David Thewlis as Remus Lupin. Maybe it's because I find David Thewlis to be so unattractive. I don't think Lupin is necessarily supposed to be handsome (the way Sirius and James Potter are), and I know that he's had a very rough life (the scars were a nice touch), but something in his face just seemed off. He didn't seem like Lupin to me.

My final qualm with the movie was the lack of a few minor details. I know they can't include all details in the movie, but a few things seem essential. For example, the marauder's map. It's clearly stated in the movie that the Marauder's Map was created by Padfoot, Moony, Prongs, and Wormtail. And it's clearly SHOWN in the movie that both Sirius and Lupin know what the map does and how to work it. But it is NEVER stated that Sirus, Lupin, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew created the map! I think it was probably confusing to the casual viewer when Sirius yells "The map never lies!" because how on earth does he even know what the map is? And how does Lupin know to clean it with "mischief managed"?

Another thing that was glossed over was the close friendship between James, Sirius, and Lupin. Lupin goes on at length to Harry about James and Lily, but he never mentions Sirius as a friend. After Harry discovers that Sirius was his father's good friend, he never mentions it to Lupin. That drove me crazy, especially given how close Lupin and Sirius clearly are (mostly in the 5th book). It also drove me crazy when, in the Shrieking Shack, Hermione yells at Lupin something like, "you were friends with him all along" which is very similiar to the book. But in the book, Lupin says, "I wasn't his friend, but I am now". In the movie, he never says that, implying for a bit that he WAS helping Sirius. I know it was more suspensful, but it just wasn't right.

Also (and now I feel like I'm rambling, but I just don't care), it was not clear at all WHY Sirius was at Hogwarts. They only briefly showed the newspaper clipping of Ron's family in Egypt, and Sirius didn't say that's how he knew where Scabbers was. It's a good thing I've read the book so many times.

The Amusing: It's a long held belief between Anthony and myself that Sirius and Lupin are lovers. So in the scene where Lupin pulls Sirius off the floor of the Shreiking Shack, he and I were giggling like little girls. I swear they looked like they were about to start making out. We were both all, "they're so gay! They are SO gay!!" Then when Snape busts in, he accuses Sirius and Lupin of quarrelling like an "old married couple." It was SO fabulous. I feel like it was put in the movie just for our benefit.

When Harry and Hermione were using the time turner and standing behind themselves while waiting to free Buckbeak, Hermione says, "Is that what my hair really looks like from the back?" HA! She may be a Sirius-saving, Malfoy-punching, genius witch, but she is still a girl.

God Bless Harry Potter!