Hmmm...

Ok... Just came back from Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban and my abs still hurt. Won't Shane be pleased! Harumph... My mother is already grinning from ear to ear about it. But I suppose that the pain and the soreness is a good sign. It means all this gym and weight training is actually working. Been getting a number of comments saying I look better and all. I really hope it's true.

Anyway. Back to Harry Potter. I didn't think it was very fantastic despite all the rave reviews about it. I mean, it wasn't a terrible film. It was good. Just not fantastic. I wasn't left breathless after the show. Unlike the first movie. While the second movie bordered on long-winded, at least the quidditch scenes made me hold my breath. I do believe my heartbeat stayed rather calm during this third one. There were faults of course, but that's not to say that it wasn't enjoyable. It was very much so. I didn't fall asleep and I never once checked for time throughout the movie.

That said, here are what I feel are the pros and cons about the movie:
Pros
1)Most of the newer characters are indeed very well cast. David Thewlis is wonderfully reserved as Lupin and Emma Thompson is a nicely flouncy Trelawny.
2)Less time is spent panning the scenery and settings (as was done a lot in the first two installations) and more time on the story.
3)The movie was definitely more mature in terms of tone. The innocence of childhood fades as time passes and both the characters and the world within the books/movies grow older.
4)The Whomping Willow most absolutely deserves a fan club of its own. See how the irritatingly cute birdies get, for a lack of a better word, whomped.
5)Very nice subtleties inside the movie. One of which being when Snape says Lupin is indisposed, and the next thing you see is Lupin showing up with multiple scars on his face.

Cons
1)There was almost no character developement to speak of. The new characters are just thrown into your face and the audience does not really get a chance to become familiar with them.
2)Many of the characters except for the main three were seriously side-lined. Characters like Snape (whom I thought was a main draw for any Harry Potter story), MacGonagall, Dumbledore, the Weasley twins and too many others were severely deprived of screen time. And even so, even Hermione and Ron were put aside a fair bit.
3)Many important details and scenes were changed or excluded from the movie. Such as the history of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs; Lupin's monthly potion requirements, the reason behind the Whompin' Willow, Sirius scraping Snapes head along the tunnel... *cough* Timeline was also changed occasionally, most significantly when Harry recieves the Firebolt.
4)Very very very little quidditch, if not none. The quidditch scenes are usually my favourite in any Harry Potter movie so imagine my disappointment when barely 2 minutes of the game was showed. Of course, this particular point is a highly biased one. :P
5)Ultimately, this latest installation into the franchaise caters more for the audience who have read the books as well. No doubt it allows for those who haven't to still enjoy themselves, but there are holes left that can only be filled if you read the book.

All in all, I attribute most of the flaws to the fact that the actual story has too many characters, too many sub-plots going on and too many details to be put into a single movie. 3 hours is already stretching it. I've no doubt that the Screenwriter I-can't-remember-his-name and Director Alphonso Cuaron did the best they could to put together the film as seamlessly as they could. Interesting and enjoyable as Rowling's stories are, I do believe that she'll do well not to get overly ambitious with her next few books.

Well... I hope I haven't been too picky about things (although I actually have quite a few more things to say. Just that the angry mob of Harry Potter fans outside my window are scaring me.) and they're really just my own opinions so you don't have to take them into account. Anyhow this particular entry seems to be a tad longer than it should've been so I'll just end here. I need to sleep too anyways.