Harry Potter 3

And the story at last begins! For me, the series really didn’t start rolling until this installment. The first book established the characters, setting, and conflict. The second book, development-wise, didn’t really add much to the overall story progression. But now—this is where things really get going.

Book Review

I did mention that my little write-ups contain spoilers, right? If you haven’t read the books or seen the movies (and are still planning to do so) then you should probably leave. I recommend this as a solid alternative.

I surprised myself for liking this story so much because it does contain time travel, something I’m not generally a big fan of. (And that’s mostly because nobody ever gets it right.) In this book, Hermione uses time traveling as a way to double her study workload. She goes to a class, turns time back an hour, then goes to another class at the same time.

Here’s my problem. Even though she might experience both classes, one or the other of these experiences would not be shared by the rest of the universe. For example, let’s say she took Arithmancy then went back in time and took Ancient Runes. What happens when she shows up for the Arithmancy final? The teacher would say, “You’re not in my class. You showed up the first day and then disappeared. I never saw you again.” The Arithmancy teacher in the other timeline also would not have Hermione in a class because in that reality she only took Ancient Runes.

Follow that? 🙂

Later on, however, when it mattered, I really liked the way time travel was employed. So in spite of the plot problems, the whole thing gets a big thumb’s up from me.

Movie Review

And the movies at last begin! For die-hard fans of the first two “kiddie” films, Alfonso Cuaron’s offering must have felt like a disaster. Quite apart from losing Richard Harris, the entire look and tone of the film changed. And I will hand’s down say that in every respect this was for the better. I’d read that at one point, Chris Columbus had been slated to direct all seven films. I am so happy that never came to be.

So now, without further ado, is my walkthrough of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I’ve only seen it once, when it came out, so some of my details may be a bit fuzzy.

The movie begins when Harry decides to take a long walk down a dark road. In the previous scene, he accidentally killed his best friend Ron. You can now call him Mint Jelly, ‘cuz he’s on the lam.

Harry seeks refuge in a wizard pub where wizards are just learning how to travel through time with the help of Stephen Hawking.

Mr. Weasley expresses his disapproval of Harry for murdering Ron. Harry apologizes and Mr. Weasley accepts, given that he still has six kids left.

Harry returns to Hogwarts where the choir entertains the student body by singing the complete works of William Shakespeare.

In this scene, Harry learns how awesome it is to fly, which is odd, considering he’s been flying quite regularly for over two years now.

Professor Lupin endangers his class by letting them walk through this wardrobe, where they become lost for decades in Narnia.

Meanwhile, Harry immediately regrets signing up for the “Quidditch with Dementors” workshop.

But things begin to turn around for Harry when Fred and George give him the Marauder’s Map. This magical map displays the location of every McDonald’s within a five hundred mile radius.

Let me take a brief departure from silliness to show you what I believe is one of the best delivered lines in the movie: “You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid’s; your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave.” Brilliant. I wish I could write like that.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot about Sirius Black. This is the point where Sirius discovers that Harry has already killed Ron and decides to go after his rat instead. The rat, however, is not in favor of this revised plan and escapes to a future installment.

Angered by the rat’s escape, Harry and Hermine use Stephen Hawking’s Time Turner to go back three hours and change history. Because when things aren’t going your way, you have no choice but to change history.

Now back in the past, Harry saves Harry using—get this!—magic!

Here we see Dementors being systematically brutalized by Harry and his magic. What’d they ever do to him? I mean, besides try to kill him?

(This is just a cool-looking shot of Sirius Black.)

Hermione kills an innocent iron door just as it was about to attack Sirius. Hooray!

The final scene of the movie shows Daniel Radcliffe suddenly realizing he’s a billionaire.

Lastly, and I say this with all seriousness, I think these are the best end credits to a movie ever.

Only thirty-two days until the final film. Not that I’m keeping track or anything.