Potter Movie Saga Matures With Prisoner of Azkaban

June 4, 2004 -- They're ba-a-a-ck!

It's year three at Hogwarts for Harry, Hermione and Ron and what is new is the film's director. Alfonso Cuarón takes over for Chris Columbus, who moves up to producer. I wish he'd found Cuarón so I could call him a "Christopher Columbus discovery," but Cuarón did direct 2001's Y Tu Mamá También, a very controversial coming-of-age road film out of Mexico that was so raw, it originally earned a NC-17 rating, and was subsequently released unrated.

There were parts of Y Tu Mamá También I wasn't old enough to see. Cuarón did direct one of my favorite family films, 1995's A Little Princess, and the risk did pay off.

This is the best of the Harry Potter films. It's not that there's more magic, it's just more magical. Columbus showed us the story. Cuarón takes us into the story. He's also helped by the youngest members of his cast having grown into their roles and having become, three for three, pretty darn good actors.

As for the older members of his cast, Michael Gambon, a fine British actor, replaced Richard Harris as Dumbledore, Harris died after Chamber of Secrets finished filming, and I missed his ghostly grace.

True, some of the scenes played as if they read better on a page and purists will be upset at what the film version leaves out. But you can't make a two-hour movie of a 600-page book without leaving something out.

No, you don't have to have seen the first two films to enjoy the third, but why wouldn't you want to watch the first two? It's great entertainment and a cultural landmark. And how can you knock a series that has had literally millions of kids around the world take home 600-page novels and read them straight through, under the covers with a flashlight so their parents won't know?

An appropriate metaphor for Harry and Hogwarts: Third time's a charm. Grade: A-