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As I said in my review of the second film, the real problem with Chris Columbus was not that he tried to be faithful to the books, it was that he didn't have the talent to pull it off. So after enduring the crappy 2nd film (which managed to be worse than the book, which itself was not too good), the Potter film franchise is given a much needed shot in the arm thanks to hiring of a real director, Alfonso Cuaron, who, despite still being saddled with that idiot screenwriter Steve Kloves, succeeds where Columbus would have fallen flat on his face.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprise that the best of Rowling's books proved to be the best of the films.
Which is not to say that the film is not without flaws. The films continue to pointlessly butcher Ron into a stupid, cry baby coward instead of portraying him as the loyal, funny, protective friend that he was in the books, and Rupert Grint's inability to act doesn't help. Exactly why the filmmakers feel they must ruin Ron, and why JK herself allows them to ruin Ron, is unclear. While the original book showed Ron defending Hermione from Snape and, in one of his all time greatest moments, stood up the an alleged killer declaring that he would have to be killed as well if it meant defending Harry, but the first moment is changed to Ron agreeing with Snape after Snape insulted Hermione - which makes no sense following previous events that would have him growing more protective of her, not less, and also screws with the so called romance brewing between them. And who gets to say "If you want to kill Harr you'll have to kill us too!"? Hermione! That's right, once again, Kloves screws Ron while blowing Hermione way out of proportion, apparently unaware that he is ruining the balance between the trio and making it impossible to believe that Ron and Hermione have romantic feelings for each other. The films never portray Hermione and Ron as having a bond that is developing beyond friendship, and despite so called "extra hints" that "foreshadow" their love, Ron and Hermione merely come off as two stupid brats who want nothing to do with each other while lacking the romantic undercurrent that charged up the sparks between Hepburn & Tracy as well as Han Solo & Princess Leia. Do you think that Princess Leia would have fallen in love with Han Solo if Han constantly acted like a stupid, effeminate, inarticulate, weak willed coward who's scared of everything - including his own shadow? Hell no. Han wasn't always gallant, but he was never stupid nor cowardly; he also had the guts and the quick thinking, which in the end is what drew Leia to him. While he's not exactly Beowulf or Hercules, or even Aquaman, what is supposed to make Ron redeeming to Hermione is that he's clearly not as dumb as he occasionally appears to be and he's clearly a brave guy, otherwise, he wouldn't have landed in Gryffindor along with the rest of his family. Sadly, it appears that none of the filmmakers involved here, not even Alfonso Cuaron, easily the best of them, really understand that, and they apparently have no idea of how to portray the relationship between Ron and Hermione; they just expect the audience to go along with it figuring that most of them have read the books, so they put little to no effort into making it believable. They don't even try to include the moments that JK Rowling herself used to demonstrate the ever changing relationship with Hermione & Ron; in fact, they have the nerve to throw out those moments and come up with their own crap, but their crap only comes out as superficial and insincere. Meanwhile, Hermione, as played by Emma Watson, continues to move away from the bookworm we knew in the novel to a shallow, "so cool & charming she's girl power" twit. (Since when does Hermione cackle at Ron, fret over her hair, wear a pink hoodie with a rainbow belt, has the strength of Rocky Balboa that allows her to punch Draco down rather than just slap him, and show up looking dirty blonde instead of frizzy brown?).
Ron deserved better.
Adding insult to injury, while it may not have been intentional on the part of the filmmakers, is that Hermione and Harry, who are presented as sharper and more focused, which is somewhat true even in the books, come across as having much more chemistry between the two of them than Hermione does with Ron, and at the end, they are even shown mocking him, once again throwing the balance of the trio out of whack because we don't see that Hermione also has a tendency to annoy Harry even though they're friends. Maybe Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe just have a natural chemistry with each other, but this also screws with the audiences because the film versions of Hermione & Harry seem to play so well off each other that it seems they are the ones destined to be together, as opposed to Hermione being with Ron (this will also make it even more difficult when trying to sell the audience on the concept of Harry's future romance with Ginny in "Half-Blood Prince"). When Hermione reaches out to a distraught Harry at Hogsmeade and flashes her big brown eyes to him, while Ron keeps his distance, you half expect Hermione to embrace Harry and give him a kiss. When Harry and Hermione are alone in the Forbidden Forest, you half expect Harry to rip Hermione's clothes off and make love to her (their lovemaking would probably be spoiled by the arrival of either the Lupin wolf or the Dementors). I know this probably wasn't intentional, but the filmmakers don't seem to understand that they're giving off the wrong impression to audiences.
Despite these unfortunate changes, star Daniel Radcliffe finally begins to show us just how good an actor he's becoming - he's easily the best of the three, striking the right balance between his serious and light hearted moments without going over the top like his co-stars. Radcliffe works very well with both David Thewlis, in the role of Lupin, and Gary Oldman, in the role of Sirius Black. It's too bad that Radcliffe was not given more of a chance to interact with the new Dumbledore, Michael Gambon, a fellow Irishman chosen to the replace the late Richard Harris, who's life & career sadly ended with the last clunker.
Cuaron's stronger sense of pacing and visual narrative along with characterization also become apparent in his handling of the action pieces and atmospheric moments of fear. I sincerely hope that he returns to direct either the sixth or seventh installment.
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2-Disc/Special Edtion/BD)
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Ultimate Edition - No Extended Cut
I like many Harry Potter fans are very displeased with Warner Brothers, Remember back when the Harry Potter movies were released on Ultimate Edition, well as you will recall Harry Potter Years 1 and 2 (Sorcer's Stone and Chamber of Secretes) the extended TV cut (that is shown on ABC Family/ Freeform) was officially released on DVD...but what happened to the Extended TV Cuts of years 3 - 7? When they were released on the Ultimate Editions years 3 - 7 were the same thing that was released the first time. Why ruin a good thing....and yes the extended cuts of the films do exist, because they are aired on Freeform, for example in Prisoner of Azkaban, there is the extended scene with Hagrid and the Bird. and then there is the scene where sir cadogan is the new Griffendore password picture, here are pics from the extended cut from freeform to prove that the extended versions exist. I would like to know why warner brothers decided to not include the extended cuts of years 3 - 7....it is time that they give us an explanation
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2006
- Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2005
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2025
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NadineReviewed in France on September 28, 2019
Quand Hermione Granger a la le bijou du temps
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