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Another year, another Harry Potter movie.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban fulfilled all box office hopes, raking in $92.6 million in its first three days. (That's the second-best three-day-opening ever, behind Spider-man's $114 million.) More surprising was its critical reception. While devoted fans of J.K. Rowling's best-selling series of novels are upset by screenwriter Steve Kloves' abridgement of the storyline, most mainstream film critics are celebrating this third film in the series as the best so far.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, noticeably more mature) and his friends are young teenagers now, and they're dealing with more serious matters. Harry is more confident in his talents, and bolder. He's quicker to use magic to humiliate his family, quicker to break the school rules to investigate shadowy matters, and quicker to confront his enemies. There are the first glimmers of romance between his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), as well as clear signs of "girl-power" audacity in Hermione's willingness to stand up to the school bullies.

When this episode's threat against Harry arises, this time in the form of escaped prisoner Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), Harry and his friends find themselves entangled in a complicated web of cover-ups and conspiracies. They receive hints, hindrances, and help from familiar faces like Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon replacing Richard Harris), and the new teacher on campus—Professor Lupin (the brilliant David Thewlis). The film gathers to an involving and complicated climax involving an enchanting winged creature called a Hippogriff, a ferocious werewolf, creepy flying phantoms called Dementors, and a magic trick that shows up conveniently just in time to give our heroes the advantage they need.

While I wholeheartedly agree with those critics praising director Alfonso Cuaró n for the way he improves upon the work of Chris Columbus, who directed the first two films, I did not find Azkaban to be a better story than The Sorcerer's Stone or The Chamber of Secrets. In fact, it is a deeply troubling episode. While the cast is phenomenal, the exploits of the heroes are increasingly arrogant and anti-authoritarian. Further, the conclusion involves too many arbitrary twists and a magic trick that's a complete cop-out—one that has been worn out through over-use in action-adventure movies and Star Trek episodes.

My full review is at Looking Closer.

This time around, Christian film critics seem to be less concerned about the issue of witchcraft in the film. There seems to be more willingness to accept that magic in these stories is being employed the way it has been in fairy tales for centuries—as a system of symbolism that represents personal talents and gifts, and that also represents the role of technology in our own world. When real-world "dark arts" make an appearance in the plot, they are treated in a tongue-in-cheek manner that serves to make them seem dismissible, hokey, and merely make-believe. It all should make for a good family time at the movies, so long as viewers discuss what they have seen and ensure that everyone understands the difference between fantasy and reality.

Gerri Pare (Catholic News Service) writes, "This is the third—and arguably the best—adaptation of [the] novels about the boy wizard. Cuaró n brings a more cinematic sensibility to the tale just as Steve Kloves' screenplay is less concerned with a literal translation of Rowling's novel. The resulting visuals are impressive, sometimes glorious—and occasionally frightening." Pare adds that it is "too intense for young children unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy."

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June (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48