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The Main Characters
--Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is a 13 year old who is back at Hogwart’s for his third year. Right before he went back though, Sirius Black, a man who was put in jail for helping Voldemort kill his parents, escaped. He is seemingly out to get Harry.
--Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) is Harry’s best friend and stays by his side no matter what.
--Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) is the smartest person at Hogwart’s and is very good friend with Ron and Harry. She plays an even bigger role than she did the first two movie by helping Harry figure out the whole issue and what’s going on.
--Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is the head person at Hogwarts. He is considered the greatest wizard.
--Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) is the rather dark mysterious teacher. He has frequent run-ins with Harry, Ron and Hermione but he’s really out to help keep Harry safe.
--Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) is the carekeeper at Hogwarts. This year he even gets to teach a class!
--Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) is a noted murderer. He helped kill Harry’s parents and a close friend of their’s and was serving time in prison, before escaping. Everyone thinks he’s after Harry.
--Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) is the newest professor at Hogwarts. He takes Harry under his wing and teaches him very important things.
The Setting
Hogwarts of course.
The Movie
Harry is back at home with the Dursley’s and Aunt Marge is over for dinner tonight. She treats Harry with the utmost of disrespect and Harry’s had enough. He unwittingly makes her float away. He bails the Dursley’s and goes out on his own. He makes to a street corner and a snarling dog is about to attack when a triple decker purple bus pulls up and brings Harry to a hotel. He stays there and the next day sees Hermione and Ron there. Harry learns that Sirius Black escaped Azkaban but he doesn’t know who he is until Mr. Weasley pulls him aside and tells him that he is the one who told Voldemort where his parents were hiding and led to their death. He then killed a close of friend of theirs named Peter Pettigrew. Harry is concerned that Sirius is out to get Harry.
Harry, Ron and Hermione go onto the train to Hogwarts and sit in a room where a man under a cloak is resting. The train suddenly stops and the glass starts to freeze. All of a sudden, a scary creature dressed as Death itself comes in and starts to take Harry’s soul. The cloaked man reveals himself and gets the being, known as a Dementor off of Harry. The man would be known as Professor Lupin and Harry would pass out due to the Dementor.
They get to Hogwarts where it’s business as usual. Hagrid gets to teach a class this year and Harry, Ron and Hermione are elated. The first class doesn’t go quite as well as planned for Hagrid. He introduces a beast known as Duckbeak which is half horse and half duck (I think?) and Harry gets to ride him. Malfoy thinks it’s easy to control so he approaches the beast and gets attacked. Malfoy complains to his father, who makes sure the beast is put to death.
Meanwhile, Sirius Black has made it to Hogwarts. Harry is increasingly paranoid and after a run in with another Dementor during a Quidditch match, he goes to Professor Lupin to learn a counter spell to them. He practices and finally gets it. Harry learns this while the other students are off at Hogsmeades. Harry couldn’t go since his Aunt and Uncle didn’t sign the sheet saying he could go so he’s pretty pissed he couldn’t join his friends. He sneaks off but not before getting a sheet from Ron’s twin brothers showing where everyone is at all times. He makes it to Hogsmeade and learns, by sneaking in on a conversation with Professor McGonagall, that Sirius is actually his Godfather. This angers and upsets Harry.
One night, Harry is looking at the map where everyone is and sees Peter Pettigrew’s name roaming the halls. He’s definitely confused and goes searching for him but Snape intercepts him and almost takes the map but not before Lupin gets it from Harry first. Lupin has saved Harry again! He tells him he’s going to keep the map so Harry won’t get in trouble. On the day of the beast’s execution, Harry, Ron and Hermione go off to see how Hagrid is doing. They sneak off when the executioner comes and watch as the axe comes down. Ron loses his rat so he goes chasing after him. They go to an enchanted tree where the rabid dog that Harry saw at the beginning of the movie drags Ron inside. Harry and Hermione follow and that’s where all the action goes down. There are surprises galore as Harry faces off in the final confrontation with Sirius and then Harry and Hermione going back in time to relive the events and change things. I’m sorry, the last hour or so is really laden with surprises that would ruin the movie so I’ve been a bit vague.
My Review
I was stoked to go see this hearing how much better it was than the other two. All the critics are saying it’s the best of the three and maybe that’s the reason I’m not a critic. It was an enjoyable movie but I don’t think it’s as good as the first two were. It’s noticeably darker but that doesn’t take away from it, it makes it better. The acting is better and I thought Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe were a lot better. There were some problems that stuck out like a sore thumb, for me at least. The new Albus was alright. They couldn’t avoid getting a new one so it’s not their fault but it was noticeable still. Second, the kids are so much older now that it’s hard to believe they are 13. Rupert Grint was annoying beyond belief in this was, as was the kid who played Draco. The hair in this movie was awful. Draco’s, Rupert’s and Daniel’s hair was just bad. I don’t know if that’s a minor tripe but it too was annoying. Overall, it was a really good movie and I don’t know if I’m being too heavily influenced by the first two but I don’t think it stacks up quite as well as the first two. Maybe I’ll need to see it a few more times but right now it’s my least favorite of the three, but it’s still a good movie. Wishy-washy review right?
Overall Rating
***
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