ok its ally pat here again..after seeing this film i nearly ran out of the cinema crying..! I hate to say this, but the third movie was pretty bad compared to the first 2. Chris Columbus, the first director left direcing the harry potter movies for those who didnt know, and passed the directing bug onto Alfonso Curron. Now, i will say this, You can deffatnly tell the difference between the directing, because, the first two were done so well. This one is a downfall. The movie was deffatnly rushed, and more than it should have been. Now whoever objects to this, i dont care, but if you werw a big harry potter fan, you wouldnt mind watching about another hour of the movie if they added more in would you. I mean, the cinema can cut it half way through for a break and you could come back in and watch the rest. I dont think anyone would mind. The thing that annoyed me the most was how alfonso left out a lot of key point you would have to see to get the full story. exanples.....
~The scene with aunt marge was good,but they rushed it,and the line"My father was not a drunk"came on waaay to soon.
~When harry is throwing things at draco at hogsmead and draco pulls the invisibility cloak off harry.
~ When Lupin tells harry about the mauderers map, and that the reason he knew who padfoot,prongs,and bla bla bla were is because he was prongs.
It was rushed. And sadly that Richard Harrid died..no one can try to do a better job than him, Michael Gamblin wasnt the one to pick as a runner up im afraid.
Anyway. most of the acting was good but. i hope the 4th is better
 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Formula
by Michael Flanagan

Solid

 In my review for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, I said that the movie was good, a little heavy on the magic, and too long (153 minutes), but good.  HP & the Chamber Pot was not so good.  Take the first one, take out the fun, and you’ve got its sequel—boring retreads.  And it was a way too long (161 minutes—damn).  While they didn’t “get it right” with this movie, they’re getting better.  And it’s a little too long (but at “only” 142 minutes, it’s the shortest so far).

 And by getting better, I mean they got Alfonso Cuaron, hired for his work on A Little Princess.  Course, he also did the Ethan Hawke as Pip/Finn Great Expectations and the widely overrated Y tu mama tambien, but we’ll forget about those.  Because here he has added depth to story and character, practical effects instead of CGI spells, and a sense of wonder and mystery that has been absent from Chris Columbus’s earlier films.
 

Cuaron’ touches on the movie are many and great.  The kids look and act more professionally—and more British in the comedy area—than they ever have before.  With a little mussed hair, proper development, and punk-rock charisma, the children have grown into some kick-ass kids who finally look like they’re they can own the school.  Hagrid looks like a giant for the first time, and he’s wonderful.  The castle, inside and out, looks far more gothic, ancient, mysterious, regal, beautiful, and otherworldly than ever before.  The scene between Harry and Lupin on the bridge is particularly beautiful, in scenery as well as in acting and language.  These vast improvements cast a shadow over the previous two films that will probably stay there a long time.  We’re talking Empire Strikes Back shadow.  Wizard of Oz it ain’t.  Thank goodness it’s not Chamber or Stone either.

So what’s wrong?  Well, here’s what’s not wrong.  The last third of the movie.  As soon as the kids go to Hagrid’s hut, this is the quintessential Harry Potter movie.  From that point to the last darkened quote of music after the credits, it is a perfect movie.  So what’s wrong?  The first two-thirds.  I’m not talking about payoff, either.  The ending of this movie is so good that it’s a payoff for something else.  Imagine if Marty McFly took the Delorean to Middle Earth and met Lon Chaney Jr. there.  It’s a payoff to that movie.  And it’s great.  However, we get the first two thirds, and while it has many great moments, it could have cut a lot more. 
 

Nazis in Hogwarts?  I hate these guys.

If we didn’t have to spend an entire school year solving every mystery, and we could get dropped a little closer to the middle, that would be a better setup.  The opening—great masturbation joke.  (Remember, the guy who did Y tu mama…oops.)  The new, angrier Harry with Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen—realistically powerful.  The bus ride...cut it.  The bar, good for the practical magic effects, but plot wise unnecessary.  The death things freezing the train was great, and meeting Lupin was great, but then there was a lot more of the going up and down the stairs, and some woman in a painting had something happen to her that you don’t get unless you read the book, or saw it with someone who did, and eventually, all those moments blended into the first movies.  They looked better, and were acted better, but were unnecessary.  For about 15 minutes in the middle I found myself bored, and none of these negatives are Cuaron’s fault.

It’s the need to get as much from the book in as possible.  And it’s now hurting great movies.  Take a page from Peter Jackson and take more pages out.  Put them in Harry Potter extended edition DVDs.  I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet.  But your fans are gonna love it.

Oh, and Michael Gambon was really good--a little more outwardly mischievous--but Richard Harries will be sorely missed.

Picture Gallery

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone     (Shopping)     Contributing Critic Elizabeth Gray
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets    (Shopping)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban    (Shopping)