Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3) - 9 stars out of 10

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3) - 9 stars out of 10

This film is a turning point in the series, as the audience really begins to connect with the characters.  An 8-film franchise allows the character development to move at a very slow pace.  While this prevents the characters from being incredibly lovable in the first few films, it creates a familiarity from getting to know them progressively instead of merely throwing all of their life events in your face at once.  The Harry Potter series  can really get away with this method of character development because most people have already read the books and know the characters already.  While werewolves are cool, my favorite aspect of this film is Hermione's ability to travel through time, particularly when they are watching themselves in the woods and you can see how their future actions (in an alternate reality) effect their present actions.  This might be the finest film in the series and would be a good starting point if you wanted to be familiar with Harry Potter without watching all 8 films.