I was really moved to respond to Jason's entry about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I emailed my response to him, but thought I could post it here as well, to encourage others to respond to me. As a fan, I can provide some thoughts on the film that could answer some of his thoughts about it.
Dementors fly around like the wicked witch of the west without any true feeling of danger attached to their physical presence.
I thought the train sequence sets up their scariness really well, although scary-factor is highly personal. (Huzzah to Dave McKean for making me wig out!) Some people thought they were too Ringwraith, but that's how they are described in the book. I expected them to be less skinny.
Draco Malfoy is such a pussy that it's a wonder he has any admirers.
Lots of reasons:
1) Tom Felton is cute.
2) Harry/Draco is a really admired OTP. The passing note sequence with the raised eyebrow just added more movie canon to 'shippers of the pair of them getting together. One of my good friends is currently writing some hardcore Harry/Draco BDSM and I'm sure she's tickled pink by the "you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it" line.
3) Draco/Ginny is a really admired OTP. (See Chamber of Secrets for their love/hate relationship.)
4) Draco/Hermione is a really admired OTP.
5) Bad girls like being in Slytherin. They like the idea of being ruthless and cruel, which is what Draco is. Ambitious, too. He's just not brave.
Daniel Radcliffe has a very good 'determined' face
I thought he did angry really well, too. He reminds me of Hayden Christensen, an actor that you can tell has something seething below the surface.
As for Rupert Grint, I've got the hots for him (soooo illegal), so I can't make too many comments other than I love the fact that he does less mugging in this film. They did tone down Ron's protectiveness of Hermione, much more evident in the book than in the film. Ron will fight with Hermione, but won't really allow anyone else to put her down. You can tell at book three that they do like each other, bickering like a married couple.
Both Kopel and Roger Ebert seem to be worried that the next movies may degenerate into clichéd teen action thrillers.
Well, if you think about it, Rowling's books are pretty cliché filled. The movies will continue to follow the plot lines of the books fairly accurately; the fans wouldn't accept it otherwise (a la Lord of the Rings where there are a number of fans who took great offense to some of the changes made to the original). Plus, the producers/filmmakers want Rowling's seal of approval for what they make. The deviations will be few and acceptable to her. Especially since she knows what will happen at the wrap up of the series and the movies need to keep what is genuinely important so the ending won't be too wonky.
Kopel was upset by how they wear Muggle clothing in the final scenes
Yeah, I think that was a choice to continue with the more realistic look of this film compared to the first two. The audience needs to buy into in the plot line involving time travel. Putting them in more wizard-style costume would be both distracting and the varied clothing helps us identify them easily from a distance (if they were all in their robes, they'd all look pretty generic from afar).
Ebert is concerned by the actors' advancing ages
If you can have a 20 year old Sarah Michelle Gellar playing a sophomore in high school, you can have the principles of Harry Potter playing 17 (their ages at their last year at Hogwarts) when they are 20 or 21. I mean, there is a two year age difference between Rupert Grint and Emma Watson and a three year age difference between Tom Felton and Emma Watson. I also think that the fans will accept the actors "playing young" more than accepting a new trio of principles.
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So, there's my email in its entirety. Responses to it are highly encouraged!