Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
(2004, Alfonso Cuaron, USA) [63 out of 100]
Now that the Olsen twins have finally turned 18 this past month, Emma Watson, who has played Hermione Granger in all three Harry Potter films, ripely now at the tender age of 14, becomes the unofficial Jailbait du jour. But it's not the onslaught of questionable websites dedicated to this underage urchin that is the reason for my liking her - it actually is her talent - as well as the talent of her co-stars; Rupert Grint as the nebbishy Ron Weasley and Daniel Radcliffe as the young hero, Harry Potter. In the first two Potter films, these three child actors seemed to be of average talent at best, but here, they seemed to have matured into a better class of actor. Why did this happen you ask? My belief is the change of Director from studio hack Chris Columbus to nubile young Mexican Auteur Alfonso Cuaron, who just a few years ago created the hit film Y Tu Mama Tambien, a sort of Godard meets Sternberg meets Wim Wenders.
-June 30, 2004
It is this change in helmsman that throws hard evidence onto the table proving the Auteur Theory in all its glory. Chris Columbus (who filmed Harry Potters one and two) is to filmmaking what his namesake was to world exploration - he gets a lot more credit than his lack of talent and knowhow deserves.
The first two Harry Potter films were entertaining, but went no deeper than what they were on their surfaces, but here, Cuaron has created a darker more artistic and more sinister feel that goes along perfectly with what Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban should be about. Still not a great film by any stretch, but a noted improvement over the first two films. And whether this is a great film or not it is definately the work of an Auteur at work, or to put it in more Potteresque vernacular - Columbus was a mere muggle while Cuaron is some kind of Wizard.