If asked, for years I would quote The Prisoner of Azkaban as my personal favourite film. I've always loved the darkness of the book, which for me always held very close ties with Halloween (werewolves, haunted houses, the introduction of wizarding candy etc.) aka my favourite day of the year! Viewing it again after so long definitely highlights that, from a filmography point of view, my long-held beliefs hold true. There are some truly stunning sequences throughout the film and it holds up exceedingly well. I'm not as big of a fan as some people when it comes to the famous one-take exposition sequences, finding them a little overly rigid and unnatural, but the camera transitions through mirrors/glass remain mesmerising. The unique soundscape of this film also sets it apart, particularly the frequently utilised "Toil and Trouble" musical snippets that are blended into the more generic themes used throughout the franchise.
Time is obviously a key element to the plotline and the frequent use of clocks and ticking are also worthy of mention, but the cleverest tie-back to this theme is the Whomping Willow. The tree plays a much larger role in The Prisoner of Azkaban than in any other film in the franchise, thanks to the hidden tunnels beneath its roots, so utilising frequent wide shots focusing in the willow to also depict the changing seasons is incredibly effective and very clever.
From a storyline perspective, however, film three was a bit of a letdown. Key plot points are entirely ignored, such as the authors of the Marauders Map, despite ample time being available to the scriptwriters. These aren't just the standard annoyances of book-lovers irritated by their favourite scenes being left out, but truly key details that help explain character interaction. Without understanding how close Sirius, Remus and James Potter actually were the events of the storyline lack the same emotional punch. Similarly, Sirius, though played wonderfully by Gary Oldman, switches from raving lunatic to eloquent hero in the blink of an eye without any real explanation. His menacing appearance at the start of the film is never explained, his attack on Ron is lightly brushed aside without any apology and he really presents very little meaningful evidence to suggest he isn't at least associated with the Death Eaters before everyone suddenly trusts him again. Plus, what happened to Snape! Did he just get blasted out the back of the Shivering Shack? How did he catch them up? Where did he go after Lupin's transformation?
Then there is Lupin himself, whose werewolf form has aged somewhat. I frequently find films from this time period (and even more recently), suffer from the CGI looking very dated, whereas practical effects tend to be more resilient. From a plot point of view, there's also very little build up to his transformation, with only the slightest of hints here and there, resulting in a total lack of threat. Certainly, Hermione's outburst that she had been "protecting" him feels very sudden and unwarranted as we had no idea he needed protecting! All of this is a shame, because Lupin and his associated condition are some of the more interesting aspects of this story from a wider, real-world perspective as an analysis into how we treat people with incurable disease.
Still, The Prisoner of Azkaban is a kids film and perhaps these loftier analyses are right to have been left out. Overall it remained a very well crafted entry to the series with some exceptional filmography and clever character development.