Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) return to Hogwart's for a third adventure and magic filled year in this follow up to the first two Potter blockbusters. Harry comes face to face with danger yet again, this time in the form of escaped convict Sirius Black (Gary Oldman). In a bid for help, Harry turns to sympathetic Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) - but will it be enough?

Much like the other two films, this one was quite enjoyable and stayed as close to the book as possible for a movie. There was no point when I was pulled out of the film because it didn't match up to what I remembered from the novel.

It seems as though these films (as the books did) just keep getting better and better the further along that they go. Chris Columbus did not come back to direct this installment, but Alfonso Cuaron did an excellent job - so much so that until I looked up the credits I was not aware that there had even been a change in the director.

Sirius Black is an interested and well rounded character and not at all what you think he is. The cast was yet again done perfectly and I cannot think if any actors who would have done a better job as these characters. This is as close to a perfect cast as you can get.

The plot is engaging, the writing is tight, the dialogue is realistic, and the acting is better than in most movies. Even though this film is aimed for children, it is most enjoyable for adults as well. In fact, I think that adults would get some things that kids would not.

I still recommend this series and I do recommend this installment as well.

My rating: Four out of five snails.