Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The third movie in the Harry Potter series takes on a darker, more atmospheric tone, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Y Tu Mama Tambien director Alfonso Cuaron. As fans of the books will know, this time round, Harry (Radcliffe) is older, wiser and a little more temperamental (that'd be the hormones). This attitude gets him into a bit of grief when it comes to his guardians - Uncle Vernon (Griffiths) and Aunt Petunia (Shaw) - during the holiday break, but it isn't long before Harry is in Hogwarts where he is joined by Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson). It's there that he learns that evil wizard sort Sirius Black (Oldman) has escaped from the Azkaban jail is bound for Hogwarts and a final showdown with Harry.

First, the bad news - one of the major problems with the Harry Potter movies released so far has been the sheer ass-numbing length of them, and while the Prisoner of Azkaban clocks in at a reasonable 136 minutes, it still feels a little clunky and padded in places. Adapting Rowling's densely populated tomes presents obvious difficulties, but there's a little too much taken from the page and squeezed onto the screen. One always gets the impression that the screenwriters felt that they had to get absolutely everything in, rather than taking the riskier (but potentially more rewarding) approach of spending serious time with certain characters, giving them more definition than crowd pleasing cameos.

Still, one man's criticism is another man's praise, and despite misgivings about character development, Harry Potter is a rollicking, good popcorn movie with ample thrills and humour. Cuaron may have fashioned a grainier more atmospheric look, with the day-glow warmth of the first two movies the first casualty, but it's a tactical move as the audience is growing up with the franchise.