| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | |
|---|---|
| |
| Riffed by | RiffTrax |
| Riffers | Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett |
| Series | Harry Potter (Series) |
| Date Released | December 16, 2008 |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment of the Harry Potter Film Series, based on J.K. Rowling's novel of the same name. The story follows Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts as he is informed that a prisoner named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban and wants to murder him. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. RiffTrax released their riff in December 2008.
Synopsis and Preview[]
MY Best of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Rifftrax
[Spoilers Begin]
Harry Potter is spending his summer at the Dursleys' house. Uncle Vernon's sister Marge arrives for a visit and at dinnertime, she viciously insults Harry and his parents. Harry's anger and unconscious magical powers cause her to inflate and float away. Expecting to have been expelled from Hogwarts for using magic outside of school, Harry flees. After seeing a large black dog, the Knight Bus appears and takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron. There, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge tells Harry he will not be expelled. Harry learns that Sirius Black, who is said to be a supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban. The next day, Harry comes out of his room and finds a cat chasing a rat. Harry goes into the pub and is reunited with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger (the rat being Ron's pet rat, Scabbers and the cat is Hermione's new pet cat, Crookshanks). He is also informed by Arthur Weasley that Black will likely come after him.
Harry, Ron and Hermione journey to Hogwarts; they are now entering their third year. On the train they share a compartment with their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, who is sleeping when they enter the compartment. Abruptly, the Hogwarts Express is stopped and a Dementor boards, searching for Black. The creature has a profound effect on Harry, causing him to faint. Lupin awakens and repels the Dementor. At school, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore informs the Hogwarts students that because Black has escaped, Dementors have been set up around the school as a protection. The trio also begins a new class, Divination taught by Sybill Trelawney. When they read their tea leaves, Trelawney tells Harry she sees that Harry has the Grim. In addition to Lupin's appointment, Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. As lessons begin, Hermione frequently arrives at their various classes by appearing out of nowhere. Lupin's lessons prove enjoyable, as he teaches useful spells and helps less confident students like Neville Longbottom. However Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class does not go as planned, and on the first day, Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes the Hippogriff Buckbeak into attacking him. His father, Lucius Malfoy successfully has Buckbeak sentenced to death. Later, third year students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade, but since Harry's uncle Vernon did not sign his letter of permission, he cannot go, so he stays talking with Lupin on the Wooden Bridge, who says that he knew Harry's parents, and they were two great individuals.
Returning to the Gryffindor Tower, they find the Fat Lady's portrait empty, having been attacked. Dumbledore and the school Caretaker Argus Filch find the Fat Lady in another portrait, completely scared. She says that Sirius Black has entered the castle, and wanted to enter Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore sends all the students to sleep in the Great Hall, in which Professor Snape says to Dumbledore that the appointment of a teacher may had been dangerous. Dumbledore denies this, though both think that Harry may be in danger. Later, in a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Snape substitutes for Lupin, saying that he's "incapable of teaching". He teaches them about werewolves and animagi. An Animagus is a human who can turn into another animal and back into human when they choose. They can turn into only one animal.
During a Quidditch match, several Dementors approach Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick; Dumbledore slows his descent. Harry then decides to learn how to fight the Dementors. Lupin says he will teach him, but after the holidays, since he feels sick. Near Christmas, Harry attempts to sneak to Hogsmeade without permission, but is caught by Fred and George Weasley, who give him the Marauder's Map so that he can enter the village through a secret passage. At Hogsmeade, Harry overhears that Black was his godfather and his parents' best friend. Black is said to have divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Voldemort and murdered their mutual friend Peter Pettigrew. Harry says to his friends that is looking forward to kill Black.
The holidays pass, and Lupin teaches Harry the spell to conjure a Patronus, a 'shield' or 'force' that can repel a Dementor. A Patronus is the opposite of a Dementor which breeds on unhappy thoughts and bad memories. The happier the thought used to cast the spell, the more powerful the Patronus. After several tries, Harry manages to create a Patronus. One night, Harry is using the Marauder's Map, and he sees Pettigrew's name. Going where he's supposed to be, he sees no one, but is caught by Snape. Lupin appears and sees the map, he then gets Harry away. In his classroom, he says to Harry that is very irresponsible of him to wander around with the map. Before leaving, Harry says that the map may not be working properly - he has seen Pettigrew's name on it, despite the fact that he's supposed to be dead. Lupin says that it's not possible, and stays looking at the map, quietly.
In Divination class, after everyone's gone, Professor Trelawney enters into a trance while Harry's there and predicts that the Dark Lord's servant will return to his master that night. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hagrid to console him over Buckbeak's impending execution. While there, Ron discovers his rat, Scabbers, who had disappeared earlier in the year, and whom Ron had believed to be dead. While the trio is chasing Scabbers, a large dog drags both Ron and and the rat into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione follow, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. The dog is revealed to be Sirius Black, who is an Animagus. Lupin arrives as well and upon seeing Scabbers, embraces Sirius as an old friend. After being confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf. Snape appears, planning to catch Black and Lupin and hand them over to the Dementors, but is knocked out by Harry. Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. Everything that Black is accused was actually Pettigrew and the pair force Pettigrew back into his human form. Lupin and Sirius prepare to kill Pettigrew but are stopped by Harry, who tells them that it was not what James would have done. As the group head back to the castle the full moon rises, causing Lupin to transform and Pettigrew to escape. Lupin and Sirius fight in their animal forms, until Lupin is distracted and runs away after hearing the sound of a female werewolf howl (sounding like Hermione's voice), and Sirius and Harry are attacked by Dementors. As Sirius is Kissed and his soul is hanging out of his mouth, Dementors close in on him and Harry, who are ready to take Sirius's soul and Kiss Harry as well, Harry sees a figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the Dementors and saving their lives. Harry soon falls unconscious like Sirius and both are motionless.
Harry wakes in the hospital wing and Hermione tells Harry that the dementors were going to kiss Sirius and Dumbledore arrives, telling them how to save Sirius, Hermione reveals that she possesses a Time-Turner, which is how she has been taking multiple classes at once. She and Harry travel back in time three hours, watching themselves go through the night's events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. They are pursued by Lupin in his werewolf form, but they manage to get away from him by hiding behind a tree, but Lupin finds Harry and Hermione by taking another path and walks up behind them. As he charges towards them to attack them, Hermione is scared with Harry protecting her; but Buckbeak comes to the rescue and fights Lupin while Harry and Hermione look on with the former holding onto the latter. Hermione is scared by the attack as she hides her face in Harry's chest with Harry hugging her after Buckbeak turns to look at them. It suddenly becomes windy at their feet and they see the Dementors flying above their heads and they soon rush over to the lake. As the Dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Sirius, Harry realises that the person he saw was actually him and casts the Patronus. Harry and Hermione rescue a captured Sirius and give him Buckbeak to escape on, as time equals out again. At the end of the year, Lupin resigns, knowing that people will not allow a werewolf to teach their children. Later, Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt, an extremely fast racing broom.
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
- Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
- Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall
- Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin
- Gary Oldman as Sirius Black
Quotes[]
Notes[]
See Also[]
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1