The best of the 3 books

Boy heroes are not supposed to grow up. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn never did. Peter Pan remains a boy. Author J.K. Rowling however carefully steers her phenomenal Harry Potter through the years and we see the boy wizard aging one year after another with each new book that comes along. The stories also get longer and the plots more complicated. Given their content and bulk, I am sure that the books have by now ceased to be bedtime reads for kiddies.

While admirable from the standpoint of the writing, this realistic development also poses a problem as far as the movie versions of the books are concerned. Now on its third installment on the big screen, Harry Potter is in danger of losing the sizable children’s market. Judging from Alfonso Cuaron’s exciting take on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban however, we are instead witnessing the birth of a teen-aged action hero with lots of possibilities for an even more lucrative future.

Chris Columbus did such a good job directing the first two Harry Potter films, "The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets that I really had some misgivings about Cuaron taking over Azkaban.This is not because Cuaron is a lesser artist. He was responsible for the acclaimed erotic piece Y Tu Mama Tambien and he did the lyrical Little Princess as well. Harry Potter though is something else and I am sure that many also wondered if Cuaron will be faithful to the material and if he will be able to capture the same sense of wonder that the first two evoked. The main appeal of those movies is that Columbus put us in Harry’s place and we ooohed and aaahed through the eyes of a child as the books came to vivid life and met our expectations.

Cuaron fails to do the same and it is easy to see why. Big changes are in order if the film is to work this time around. The third book is darker and more sinister in content. The days of talking snakes, trolls, flying cars, messenger owls and meddling elves are over. Our heroes are now fighting for their lives against truly gruesome villains like the dementors who prey on people’s souls. Seven-year-olds are not likely to grasp the effects of that.

Harry, played once more by Daniel Radcliffe, is older. He is no longer the much put-upon poor relative of the Dursleys. He is no longer the new boy in school. Most of all he now has the confidence to use his magical powers when necessary. His friends, Ron and Hermione, again played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are also older. Even baddie Draco Malfoy, sporting a new hairstyle, now looks doubly scheming and capable of greater evil. They are now adolescents, not children.

What Columbus passed on to Cuaron is a teen-age thriller that could have been easily reduced to a cross between The Hardy Boys and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer in the hands of a lesser director. Thankfully, that does not happen. Cuaron is also expected to see to it that the movie pleases the younger children and their parents, who will surely want to watch while providing a launch pad for the fourth Potter movie. Thankfully again, Cuaron rose up to that challenge. He ditched Columbus’ by-the-book approach to produce a leaner thriller that continues the tale but is also a story by itself. That means you will enjoy this one even if you have not seen the first two films or read the books.

Cuaron provides something for everyone in the movie. The visuals, which include several interesting computer-generated images, are first rate, perhaps the most striking in the series. This is most important considering that the primary appeal of Harry Potter is the magic, which should appear believable. Harry and the other kids look and behave like normal teen-agers until their wands come out. This taps into the fantasy factor for the young movie-goers. Hey, we’re just like Harry, so we can also have magic. The older cast of seasoned actors commands attention with every gesture. It is no secret that their performances bring tremendous credibility to the series. Best of all, Cuaron keeps a sense of danger throughout that should keep everybody entertained.

As for the kids, they will enjoy seeing the lovable Hagrid again and his pet, a wonderfully rendered hippogriff named Buckbeak. They can jeer at Snape, admire Professor Dumbledore, hate the Dursleys, meet Crookshanks and cheer as Hermione lands a much deserved uppercut on Malfoy. Of course, Hogwarts remains magical, albeit in some instances, a dangerous place to be in.

Azkaban finds Harry in danger from Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner who was implicated in the murder of his parents but as you will find out, there is more to Sirius than that. The same thing goes for the helpful Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew who is a rat who is not really a rat. Azkaban abounds in secrets such as these. Lots of loose ends are sewn up too and new ones to tie together are offered for future films. I will not say which ones lest I spoil your enjoyment of the film. But I do say that here is cause to marvel anew at J.K. Rowling’s awesome gifts as a storyteller. Azkaban is certainly the best of the first three books. I will not say it is the best film because it is vastly different. Like the first two though it whets your appetite for the next one.