History Film / HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban

-->'''Ron:''' [[WakingNonSequitur Spiders! Spiders! They want me to tap dance. I don't wanna tap dance!]]
-->'''Harry:''' ''[[[DeadpanSnarker completely deadpan]]]'' You tell those spiders, Ron.
-->'''Ron:''' Okay, I'll tell them... ''[passes out]''
* CatchAFallingStar: After Harry falls off his broom, Dumbledore saves him by casting the spell ''Arresto Momentum'', which, doing ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, slowed him down.

* DecompositeCharacter: While the book has Peeves describe Sirius Black's attack on the Fat Lady's portrait after learning about this from her when he saw her in a portrait on the fourth floor, in the film it was the Fat Lady herself that described the attack from a nearby portrait.

** Near the beginning of the film, there's a FreezeFrameBonus where you see a wizard in the Leaky Cauldron is seen reading [[spoiler:''A Brief History of Time''. The last act is based heavily around time travel]].

* AdaptationalJerkass: The scene where Ron defends Hermione after Snape refers to her as an "insufferable know-it-all" is replaced with him ''agreeing'' with the professor.

* TheOner: As a staple of Creator/AlfonsoCuaron, the film contains several of these.
** The scene where Mr. Weasley discusses Sirius Black with Harry is done in one long take.

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: Despite the film's reputation for being angsty, this happens to Ron and Hermione's subplots. In the book, Crookshanks supposedly eating Scabbers causes a huge rift in Ron and Hermione's friendship, and Harry points out that Ron is probably right, causing Hermione to be angry at him too. In the film, there's just a brief scene of Ron and Hermione arguing about whether Crookshanks did it, with Harry apparently staying neutral. Also, the book features Hermione becoming noticeably distressed and overwhelmed from taking so many classes with the Time-Turner, but in the film, she seems to handle the extra classes just fine. Hermione walking out on Divination and hitting Malfoy were portrayed in the book as instances of her snapping due to all the extra stress, but the film just treats these moments as isolated incidents.

* ButtMonkey: Malfoy, big time. Every scene he’s in ends with him getting humiliated. Getting scratched by Buckbeak, dragged through the snow or punched by Hermione(which is shown twice), he has it coming every single time.
* TheCameo:

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series's first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of Columbus's movies.
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* BalefulPolymorph: Remus Lupin is a werewolf. Should he forget to drink his Wolfsbane potion, he loses his mind upon transforming and becomes a feral, highly aggressive beast.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the book, Ron tries to throw himself between Harry and Sirius despite having a broken leg, saying that if he wants to kill Harry, he'll have to kill all three of them. In the film, ''Hermione'' does this while Ron doesn't do anything but lie there.
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Has [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication/HarryPotter its own page]].
* AdaptationInducedPlothole: Has [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole/HarryPotter its own page]].

** The feud between Ron and Hermione is toned down in the film. In the book, after it appears that Crookshanks has eaten Scabbers it creates a long and deep rift between them ("It looked like the end of Ron's and Hermione's friendship") while in the film Ron just seems rather annoyed by it. They also fell out since Hermione had the Firebolt confiscated, but in the film, Harry doesn't receive the Firebolt until the very end.

* AdaptationExpansion: In the film, Hermione is shown popping up seemingly out of nowhere during lessons, reflecting how she's using the Time-Turner. This doesn't happen in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban the book]], where Ron merely wonders how she is getting to all her classes and it isn't explained until the climax.

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: Despite the film's reputation for being angsty, this happens to Ron and Hermione's subplots. In the book, Crookshanks supposedly eating Scabbers causes a huge rift in Ron and Hermione's friendship, and Harry points out that Ron is probably right, causing Hermione to be angry at him too. In the film, there's just a brief scene of Ron and Hermione arguing about whether Crookshanks did it, with Harry apparently staying neutral. Also, the book features Hermione becoming noticeably distressed and overwhelmed from taking so many classes with the Time-Turner, but in the film, she seems to handle the extra classes just fine.

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series' first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of Columbus' movies.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the books, Harry needs Ron and Hermione’s help to subdue Sirius Black. Here, it’s just him and he uses much less effort. Later in the scene, he performs a fully-fledged Expelliarmus on Snape using Hermione’s wand, a feat that would be much more difficult using a wand that hadn’t chosen him, and was only accomplished in the book by Harry, Ron and Hermione using Expelliarmus on Snape simultaneously.

** The feud between Ron and Hermione is toned down in the film. In the book, after it appears that Crookshanks has eaten Scabbers it creates a long and deep rift between them ("It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship") while in the film Ron just seems rather annoyed by it. They also fell out since Hermione had the Firebolt confiscated, but in the film Harry doesn't receive the Firebolt until the very end.

* AdaptationalExplanation: In the book, Harry realizing that the patronus that saved them all was his own comes as a random EurekaMoment. The film adds a few more scenes of future Harry and Hermione influencing past events (like Hermione throwing the rocks into Hagrid's hut to warn their past selves, and howling to distract Lupin in his werewolf form), so there is a solid basis for Harry's realization.
* AdaptationalHeroism: We don't get the scene of Snape forcing Neville to feed a faulty potion to his toad, with Snape gleefully saying if Neville got it wrong then Trevor would die. In the book, Snape had been unconscious because of the spell cast by Hermione, Ron, and Harry and had to be suspended in mid-air by magic to be brought out of the Shrieking Shack. He was not there to protect Hermione, Ron, and Harry when Lupin transformed into a werewolf, but in the film, Snape was left behind, but suddenly regained consciousness to protect Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Lupin. In the book, Snape regains consciousness only after Sirius, Hermione, and Harry become unconscious because of the Dementors.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Snape tells Dumbledore that Harry needs to know the truth about Sirius Black. Snape in the book was perfectly fine with keeping Harry in the dark. And if anything, he always criticizes Dumbledore for telling Harry anything because he doesn't think he's capable, competent or anyone special, and he outright resents Dumbledore for giving Harry private lessons and telling him stuff that he doesn't tell Snape. Also, when he realizes there's an angry werewolf standing behind him, the first thing he does is to push Harry, Ron and Hermione, three students he loathes, behind himself to protect them. In the book, he was knocked out for the entire event. Likewise, the entire sequence earlier in the book where Snape sadistically tries to test Neville's dodgy potion on the boy's pet toad is removed.
* AdaptationalWimp: In the book, Ron tries to throw himself between Harry and Sirius despite having a broken leg, saying that if wants to kill Harry, he'll have to kill all three of them. In the film, ''Hermione'' does this while Ron doesn't do anything but lie there.

* AnswerCut: Doubles as a RewatchBonus; Harry asks Mr. Weasley why he would look for someone that wants to kill him and the film cuts to Mrs. Weasley moving through a crowd trying to find Ron so she can hand over Scabbers. [[spoiler:The frame after the cut is centred on Scabbers, who is responsible for the death of Harry's parents and someone who Harry will look for later to return to his owner, Ron]].

* BigThinShortTrio: The Slytherin bullies in this film are Crabbe (big), [[CanonForeigner Pike]] (thin) and Malfoy (short).

** Lupin undergoes a painful transformation into a werewolf at the night of the full moon.

** The film makers added Shrunken heads that have the ability to talk, probably to add humour. So far these creatures have been unique to this film only. In an interview on the DVD release, Creator/JKRowling said the addition of the shrunken heads had her full support, and she only wished she'd thought of them herself.

** The part of Bem was created solely for the film. He explains to Seamus Finnigan what the Grim is and also expresses his concern over the Dementors effectiveness at catching Sirius.

* ChaosArchitecture: Hogwarts has a drastically different layout--both inside ''and'' outside--than how it appears in previous films, and most of it stays this way for the remainder of the series. In-universe, this can be handwaved by the magical properties of not only the school, but its inhabitants. Out-of-universe, the director was interested in making creative changes that he hoped would have a lasting impact on the series. This was also the first movie in the series to have been filmed at Leavesden Studios in London after WB bought it so they were able to build enough sets that they didn’t have to film on location like the first two.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Goes with the ageing of the characters and thus the target audience along with them. Marks a distinct turning point for the film franchise, where everything from the music to the cinematography to Hogwarts' very architecture has taken a turn for the complex and the noir.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Hermione exhibits a fundamental Gryffindor trait, acting bravely but with no thought for the consequences. [[spoiler:She imitates a wolf's howl to draw werewolf Lupin away from Harry's past self. Future Harry tries to stop her, but she points out that she's saving his life. Harry is grateful, until he realises this means werewolf Lupin is now headed straight for ''them''.]]

** We learn that the Boggart can take on the form of a person's greatest fear. When Lupin pushes himself in front of Harry to protect him from the Boggart-Dementor, the boggart turns into [[spoiler:a full moon]]. This is the most obvious hint at his true nature as [[spoiler:a werewolf.]]
** In the very next scene, [[spoiler:Snape has to cover Lupin's class (because Lupin is "unable to teach at the moment") and he jumps ahead a few chapters to do a lesson on werewolves. He then finds an excuse to assign the entire class (or maybe it's just Gryffindor) a report on werewolves, focusing on recognizing them, due the next day]].

** Doubles as another sign for the ending where [[spoiler:Harry has to be separated from Sirius Black who is now his only legal recognized family left. Despite finally finding a godfather in him, he now has to let him get away or else he will be sent to Azkaban.]]
* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Despite using the [[TimeStandsStill Freezing Charm]] in the previous film to defeat an entire army of pixies, Hermione seemingly forgets about it in this one, leading to her and Harry struggling to make it through the Whomping Willow. [[AvertedTrope Lupin didn't forget]] and immediately use it to freeze the plant so he can enter the secret passage to Shrieking Shack.
* FranchiseCodifier: Cuaron never directed another ''Potter'' film, but the later ones bear a strong resemblance to ''Prisoner'': the darker and starker lighting, the new complexity of Hogwarts' grounds and castle, the covered bridge, to name just a few features.

** When [[spoiler:Harry and Hermione are going back in time]] in the infirmary, one can see somebody getting completely wrapped in bandages from the waist up.

** An unusual variant when Aunt Marge is blown up and floating away, she slides along the Dursleys' sun room ceiling.

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Sirius invokes this to stave off Remus's transformation. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Lupin and Sirius start arguing, even with Snape pressing his wand into Sirius' neck. Snape even lampshades it.

-->'''Snape:''' Oh listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple.

** Harry and Hermione have this reaction when they realize they've followed Scabbers [[spoiler:actually Peter Pettigrew]] towards the Whomping Willow. Ron has one immediately after when he sees what he thinks is "the grim" [[spoiler:really Sirius Black]] standing behind Harry and Hermione.
** Hermione when she notices the full moon a few minutes after they get out of the Shrieking Shack, due to one of the people with them being a werewolf. Said werewolf [[spoiler:Professor Lupin]] also looks terrified as he changes to his werewolf form, while Sirius tries his best to bring him to his senses and asking if he's taken his potion to control his condition. Pettigrew is also visibly cowering at that moment.
* PapaWolf: When he realizes that Harry's boggart has turned into a Dementor, which ''Ridikkulus'' can't repel, Lupin dives in front of Harry so that it will change shape. Later, due to AdaptationInducedPlothole, he doesn't acknowledge this and instead told Harry he thought Voldemort would appear.

* TheQuietOne: Dudley Dursley has no lines in this film, due to not having any lines in the script. However, only a bit of his voice can be heard when he laughs before Aunt Marge kisses him and when he grunts the first time and the second time after two of Aunt Marge's buttons fly off her shirt and hit him on the forehead those two different times.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Goyle has a smaller role in this, due to his actor breaking his arm and being unable to film certain scenes. Bronson Webb was cast as a Slytherin boy called Pike to fill Goyle's role for those scenes.

* ScoobyStack: The trio do this on their way out of Hagrid's hut when Fudge, Dumbledore, and the executioner arrive.

** Harry spells this out to the Dursleys after Vernon has the nerve to demand he restore Marge to normal after the relentless verbal abuse he had been dealt by her earlier, and takes his leave back to school alone.

* SequelEscalation: As with the book, averted; this is the only entry without some form of Voldemort, the antagonist [[spoiler:is actually not after Harry at all]], and the climax doesn't involve a heavy action sequence coming off the titular Chamber of Secrets scene in the previous movie.

* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: While Harry interacts with Buckbeak the hippogriff, Draco Malfoy casually munches on an apple to show his contempt with the proceedings.

* StabTheSalad: When [[spoiler:the execution of Buckbeak is thwarted]], the executioner chops a pumpkin in frustration.

* ThatPoorCar: When the Knight Bus arrives at the Leaky Cauldron, it is unable to completely stop and while it decelerates it nudges into a car, sounding its alarm. It apparently belongs to Tom, who shuts off the alarm.

** Downplayed, and only an isolated case, but Vernon is much more subdued in this film, even readily agreeing to sign a Hogwarts form if Harry behaves himself at dinner. It helps that he manages to look a saint next to his ''even more'' spiteful and downright cruel sister, Marge, and that he's clearly frightened of what Harry is capable of.

** Marge's reaction can qualify as this to herself getting blown up. Her response is to call out to her brother to help her, as if this was a normal occurrence. She then chastises him not to let her go when she is about to float away outside. Normal people would freak out that they are blowing up like a balloon and floating away.

* WolfMan: Unlike the book where Lupin's werewolf form looks almost like a normal wolf, in this film he has a generally humanoid shape with wolf-like snout and ears, clawed hands and digitigrade feet.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Neville confesses that Professor Snape is his worst fear, and Lupin smiles, saying that Snape scares everyone. He reassures Neville as the class is laughing, telling him a boggart helps you face your worst fear. Then he whispers to Neville a suggestion, and Neville is able to summon Snape in his grandmother's clothes.

** The backstory of James, Sirius, Lupin and Pettigrew and their relationship with Snape is not explained in as much detail as the books, and the fact that they are the creators of the Marauder's Map is omitted entirely from the film. To someone who has only seen the film it would appear the map is just something Filch used to spy on students, while in the book Fred and George say they suspect Filch never even worked out how to use it.

** The backstory of James, Sirius, Lupin and Pettigrew and their relationship with Snape is not explained in as much detail as the books, and the fact that they are the creators of the Marauder's Map is omitted entirely from the film.
** The feud between Ron and Hermione is not covered in the film.
** Harry's two visits to Hogsmeade are reduced to a single trip.

** Florean Fortescue (the ice-cream seller) as Harry's three-week stay in Diagon Alley does not happen [[AdaptationDistillation since he arrives the day before he's due to return to Hogwarts]].

* AdaptedOut:
** Florean Fortescue is cut from the film, as Harry's three week stay in Diagon Alley is not covered.
** Sir Cadogan never appears in the final cut, although his role of replacing the Fat Lady as Gryffindor's portrait is available as a deleted scene on the DVD release. He does appear in [[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban the video game]], though.
** Due to Quidditch being mostly written out, Cho Chang does not appear until the next film.
** The feeble, elderly member from the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creature never appears.

* AdaptedOut: Because most of the Quidditch season is never shown, Cho is not introduced. When she first appears in the next film, it's a RememberTheNewGuy introduction.

''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is the third ''Film/HarryPotter'' film, released in 2004. It was the only film in the series directed by Creator/AlfonsoCuaron, as Creator/ChrisColumbus, who directed the previous two, opted not to return as he wanted to spend time with his children.

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series' first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of the first two movies (both directed by Creator/ChrisColumbus).

''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is the third ''Film/HarryPotter'' film, released in 2004 and directed by Creator/AlfonsoCuaron.

Sirius Black, a mass murderer believed to have been a supporter of Voldemort, has escaped from [[TheAlcatraz Azkaban, the wizarding prison]], and is allegedly out to kill Harry. In response, the [[TheGovernment Ministry of Magic]] sends Dementors, a race of dreadful wraith-like creatures, to guard Hogwarts. But the Dementors are not particularly choosy about who they seek to capture or debilitate, and they seem to have an unusual attraction (and reaction) with Harry in particular.

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series' first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of the first two movies (both directed by Creator/ChrisColumbus). While it has gone down as arguably the most controversial film in the series for this reason, it opened to significant critical success and is highly seen as an apex for the series not only in terms of quality but influence, as future films took similar risks to abandon a linear perspective in favour of more cinematic elements.

** Hermione when she notices the full moon a few minutes after they get out of the Shrieking Shack, due to one of the people with them being a werewolf. Said werewolf [[spoiler:Professor Lupin]] also looks terrified as he changes to his werewolf form, while Sirius tries his best to bring him to his senses and asking if he's taken his potion to control his condition.

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series' first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of the first two movies (both directed by Creator/ChrisColumbus). While it became arguably the most controversial film in the series for this reason, it opened to significant critical success and is highly seen as an apex for the series not only in terms of quality but influence, as future films took similar risks to abandon a linear perspective in favour of more cinematic elements.

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series' first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of the first two movies (both directed by Creator/ChrisColumbus). While it became arguably the most controversial film in the series for this reason, it opened to mass critical success and is highly seen as an apex for the series not only in terms of quality but influence, as future films took similar risks to abandon a linear perspective in favour of more cinematic elements.

The film's defining characteristics are its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone, both in terms of subject matter and cinematography]], and its being the series' first distinctly {{pragmatic adaptation}}, taking a more character-driven approach that deviated from the events of the book. Both of these distinguished it noticeably from the light, faithful approach of the first two movies (both directed by Creator/ChrisColumbus). While it has become one of the most controversial films in the series for this reason, it opened to mass critical success and is highly seen as an apex for the series not only in terms of quality but influence, as future films took similar risks to abandon a linear perspective in favour of more cinematic elements.