Jun. 07, 2004 - 2:10 pm
well, after more than a year and a half of waiting, we finally got to see the third Harry Potter. i guess they figured that if it wasn't going to make it out at Christmas, they needed to wait to release it until the summer. honestly i don't think it would have made much difference when it was released. anyway, i desperately wanted to see this with Jill since this is one of her favorite things, but she's unfortunately not nearby just now and she absolutely had to see it the first day. i went with Colin and Keith instead. i think we've seen all of these movies together. too bad that probably won't be the case when Goblet of Fire comes out. although I will hopefully get to see that one with Jill.
this is the third Harry Potter movie and it focuses on Harry returning to Hogwart's amidst the escape of a notorious murderer from a nearby prison. for some reason the prisoner seems to be after Harry Potter and no one seems to be sure exactly why. Harry also learns a bit more magic, like how to shield himself from attacks, and how to tame a large bird-horse-thing called a hypocrite (actually if you're not Robbie Coltrane and you pronounce it correctly it's "hippogriff"). Harry gets to do a bit of time traveling and learns a something about the rules of being a werewolf. the more i write about this, the more hodgepodge it sounds, but it really is an excellent story. very fun.
i'm quite sure that this is my favorite film in the series so far. i like the fact that Harry is becoming more of a troublemaker and more susceptible to his emotions. it makes for a more dynamic character i think. sort of reminiscent of Anakin Skywalker.
i was sort of sorry to see how little Gary Oldman was featured in the film. he's a wonderful actor, but this was a fairly weak role i thought. it was too short and too underdeveloped to make any sense. for the first 3/4 of the film he's the epitome of insanity and evil, and then for the last half hour or so, he's a loving uncle type of character who wants nothing other than to see Harry be happy. it was a little half-cocked as it was portrayed onscreen.
i loved the time travel bit of the film as well as the parts that dealt with Harry fighting the flying prison guards. i also thoroughly enjoyed the new defense against the dark arts teacher's character. he was very well done. i'll look forward to seeing the next film very much.