It's Harry's third year at Hogwarts; not only does he have a new "Defense Against the Dark Arts" teacher, but there is also trouble brewing. Convicted murderer Sirius Black has escaped the Wizards' Prison and is coming after Harry. Although it's nowhere near as good as the first 2 films in the series 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' once again boasts terrific perfomances from it's young 3 stars but also a very good and sinister storyline. Although some cgi effects and the woman turning into a balloon were definitely a bit too silly in my opinion. But a fun sequel nevertheless. (7.5/10)

Being the third of seven, this chapter took a whole different direction from the world established by the first two directed by Chris Columbus. Some might criticize the different style but I was entertained. And the chemistry between the main characters worked nicely. I don't care what anyone else says; this was one of the better Harry Potter films. It may have skimped on some of the scenes but it was entertaining for those who wanted a darker tale. It might be like The Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter franchise, but this is modern fantasy plain and simple.

This movie isn't that great. As a Harry Potter movie, it could be worse. Just because a movie has decent effects and acting, it doesn't mean that a poorly written plot can be easily excused. this movie is entertaining, but is kinda pointless if you think about it. In the end, this movie is mostly filler. Yes, they attempted and succeeded at utilizing time travel in a way that made sense, but the characters are so stupid and the runtime is so long that its hard to care. Watch this movie if you're invested in the franchise, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I'll keep this review short since the movie came out more than a decade ago and it has been universally viewed. 5 movies came after this one in the series and 2 movies came before, yet Prisoner of Azkaban still remains my favorite (and many peoples') Harry Potter movie. This movie is the one of the few in the franchise that tells and completes a story. It deals with Harry uncovering a truth about his past involving his parents' murder, and explores how he adjusts to this truth. Here's what makes that sentence special: was there any mention of Voldemort in that summary? You'd be hard pressed to find any mention of him either in the movie, except in a couple sentences. This movie can be seen as separate from the rest of the Harry Potter movies because it holds up as its own, without having to build up the universe or service the Voldemort storyline at all. It's also the first movie to feature the dark undertones that the first two implied but never fully explored. He must deal with his darkest fears while also dealing with the danger of a murderer seeking to kill him. This is more personal, but this movie ironically deals with time travel better than any sci fi movie I've seen about it because it portrays it in a way that time is immutable, which makes the most sense.TL;DR: Dark and original, Prisoner of Azkaban stands as its own movie without having to build up a universe, while also entertaining in its own right.