It all comes down to the source material, and at heart Rowling’s third book is the story of change. This eagerness to switch up the visual approach without betraying what came before would become a mainstay of the franchise, as directors Mike Newell and David Yates would subsequently come in and feel the freedom to mix things up thanks to Cuarón’s handiwork on Azkaban.īut the visual approach and screenplay adaptation aren’t the only reasons Prisoner of Akazaban stands out as the best Harry Potter movie. With Prisoner of Akzaban, Cuarón mixed things up significantly, working with cinematographer Michael Seresin to bring in a darker palette and more ambitious camera moves that served to underline the key thematic throughline of the story: change. Columbus’ visual style in the first two films was fairly classic, with bright lighting and a traditional coverage style (though he was also constrained by the inexperience of the young actors). But the second key addition Cuarón made that positions Prisoner of Azkaban as one of the most important Potter movies was altering the aesthetic approach. So by significantly altering the adaptation approach with Prisoner of Akzaban, Cuarón put the franchise on a course that would ensure success all the way up through the end. This would become the North Star for the adaptations moving forward, and it’s a big reason why the Harry Potter film franchise was able to succeed without tripping over itself trying to cut down or fit in every single thing from the books. If a story or subplot didn’t directly affect Harry, it would fall by the wayside. So Cuarón and screenwriter Steve Kloves made the brilliant decision to hone the focus of Azkaban on Harry Potter.

While it was relatively “easy” to adapt Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets for the big screen without leaving out any major plot points, that task became more difficult as time wore on. Luckily, they chose the latter route.īeginning with Azkaban, Rowling’s books start becoming much longer and far denser.

Or they could have given the Y tu mama tambien filmmaker and eventual two-time Best Director Oscar winner the freedom to play around with the form and put his own stamp on the franchise. They could have forced Cuarón to mimic Columbus’ style and essentially keep things the same. At this point, the producers of the film franchise could have gone one of two ways.

Best harry potter film