I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series for the 21st time. My first time in about 2 to 3 years, so I had lost a lot of memory of these books. Of course, if I was gonna re-read the books, I was obviously going to rewatch the movies. Here is Book 3: The Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Book

If Chamber of Secrets is where she honed her craft, the PoA is where J.K Rowling mastered it. You can feel the characters maturing with the themes and the writing style. The key theme of this book is how appearances can be decieving and we see this with Sirius, Lupin, Scabbers, The Marauder’s Map and Buckbeak. The way Rowling shrouds you in mystery throughout the book is quite fascinating. She also foreshadows a lot of hints and if you pay attention, you can slowly solve the case yourself. Of course, this is much easier to do and piece together with hindsight, but the subtleties are still there and enhance the ‘re-reading’ experience a lot. The book also messes with your emotions a lot, taking you on a rollercoaster trip of highs and lows. The time-travel aspect is handled with delicate care and the execution is brilliant. This has got to be one of my favorites among the books for finding the middle ground between childlike wonder and teenage angst in the middle of a beautifully unraveling fantasy story.

The Film

★★★★★ 

Rewatched 08 May, 2020

I forgot how great this movie is. I always remember it being good and being one of my favourites but I don’t remember it being this good. Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron took the helms from Chris Columbus to make what is artistically the most nuanced and well-developed Harry Potter film. The pacing and the intensity is a huge, refreshing step-up from the previous two films. The cinematography is so compelling. John William’s score reflects the change in pace and maturity that this series is gaining. Gary Oldman kills it in his limited role as Sirius Black. The Time-Turner sequence is so well-made, it still sent chills down my spine. The CGI for Buckbeak, Lupin and some bats didn’t hold up but Padfoot and Crookshanks are extremely believable. PoA is a great film and I really like how much it matured these films.

Although a lot was changed for the adaptation, I feel like it’s justified for Cuaron’s vision to come across. I’ve already started reading The Goblet of Fire, I can’t wait to share my thoughts about it!