Thursday, August 14, 2008

I'm rereading / rewatching Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I'm once again struck by how much better the film is than the 2 before it, while the book it's based on is superior to the film version in almost every way! There are a few improvements from book to film, including the way Harry finds out about Black's relationship with his parents (which just makes more sense, and is followed by the stand out acting moment in the film), and the way that Sirius speaks to & hold Remus as he's changing into his werewolf form (which speaks volumes about their love and close friendship - which the movie does little or nothing to support), but it's like the film makers were so in love with the time travel angle that they made this the heart of the film (lots of camera tricks centered around a large clock, and an overbloated, severely altared ending highlighting the time turner), instead of the relationships between Harry and the Marauders, which is clearly at the center of the book. It doesn't help that Wormtail's transformation into human form and then back into rat make absolutely no sense, even within the context of the film. Thankfully, the two films that have since been released in this series fixed almost all of the mistakes of this entry, while also improving as films in their own rights - better films and better adaptations. While I recommend the Potter books and films to friends, for those that had planned on skipping the books, I highly recommend reading chapters 17-22 of this book (after seeing the film), as the information given is so important, and so different than the film as to be essential.

   posted by Bald Jason at 07:01 AM
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