Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban User Reviews

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Welcome to Pott-a-thon. These reviews will be a little bit different than my regular stuff, since I will be listing my favorite moments of each Harry Potter film, as well as linking to a list where I rank the Potter films from best to worst. I have seen every Harry Potter film, but I've decided to see all of them again as Deathly Hallows: Part II is coming to theaters later this week. As a side note, I do consider myself as a fan of the Harry Potter universe, although I have only read the two final books.
 
It took the Harry Potter franchise three films to truly get going, as well as a change of directors. No more is the franchise pummeled by the average direction of Chris Columbus, but is instead placed in the hands of the often masterful and great director Alfonso Cuaron. Has Cuaron made a great Harry Potter film? Well, not really, but Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is still by far the best film of the franchise thus far, and a very good fantasy adventure film. He actually manages to pull out a tiny bit of what you could call good acting out of the main trio, although, don't get me wrong, they still aren't good enough. The Prisoner of Azkaban is no longer a child's tale, and it's the first Harry Potter flick that dares to be truly dark at times, and is emotionally satisfying due to great supporting performances by David Thewlis and Gary Oldman among others. All in all, The Prisoner of Azkaban doesn't mark a high-point for the series, but rather the beginning of a change in direction, and I'm fine with that. There's also plenty of great action and fine special effects to be seen here, so if you're looking for that you shouldn't be disappointed. 
 
Favorite moment: Harry Potter faces the dementors at the lake.