May 13, 2004. Copyright, 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, May 13, Graphic News:  There are several reasons for fans of the boy wizard to start counting the days until the release of the third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which goes on general release worldwide from June 4. Harry gets to take on a killer implicated in the death of his parents, to play his most deadly game of Quidditch yet and to deal with a terrifying new enemy, the Dementors. But this time the biggest revelation may just be Harry himself.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are back at Hogwarts for a third year when they learn of the escape of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), heir apparent to the Dark Lord Voldemort, from the wizardsÕ prison Azkaban. Black has broken out for one reason only: to finish the job his master started 13 years ago and kill Harry Potter.

So far so familiar. But this time HarryÕs task is complicated by raging hormones, feelings of hopelessness and a burgeoning interest in girls as he struggles with the onset of his teenage years. As if this werenÕt enough, he learns some disturbing news about his own history.

Once again a shadow hangs over Hogwarts, but HarryÕs own interior world is a darker place too. To create this shift, Warner Brothers hired director Alfonso Cuaron, whose Mexican hit Y Tu Mama Tambien dealt with teenage existential angst. He replaces Chris Columbus, who directed PhilosopherÕs Stone and Chamber of Secrets.

With Cuaron in the chair, the third Harry Potter movie is reported to have a grungier, more offbeat feel to it: Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore is an ageing hippy, Sirius Black is a bearded 70s-style rebel, and even the kids have been allowed to dirty their uniforms. Cuaron has apparently worked his own kind of alchemy on the Potter universe to make it unique.

Nevertheless, the regular cast is back, including Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman. Among the new faces are Oldman, Emma Thompson, Timothy Spall, Dawn French and David Thewlis. Sir Michael Gambon takes over as Professor Dumbledore, who was played by the late Richard Harris in the previous two Potter outings.

The cast also features hundreds of Dementors sent to guard Hogwarts. With scenes such as the one in which the troublesome creatures swoop into a game of Quidditch played in an ice storm, the signs are that Potter fans are to be well rewarded for a longer than usual wait.
/ENDS