ChrisTalbot.com

A group of us took in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban last night, and although much of the book was transported into the movie, the sheer length of the novel made it impossible for the director to fit in everything. Unfortunately, that means that the movie felt a little rushed at times. There were also some poor choices in what to cut, such as any description whatsoever about where the map came from originally, who made it and why Professor Lupin knew what it was and how to activate it. I felt that was an important piece of the book, and it was kind of a shame to see it go.

However, I'd hazard a guess that the majority of the people that see the movie have read the book, so they already know what happens. Seeing it on the silver screen just allows them to sit back and see the story at play without the necessity to do some re-reading.

Since the books after Azakaban get longer and longer, I'm somewhat worried about the quality of the Harry Potter movies going forward.