The third installment of the Harry Potter films was ready for a new director, and Alfonso Cuaron seemed a likely choice. Chris Columbus was admirable in his fidelity to the plot of the first two books, but as Harry becomes a teenager and faces a more complex life, Columbus's candy-coated style is no longer appropriate. So it was with great anticipation that I looked forward to the "darker" style that Cuaron promised.
In some respects I was not disappointed. Cuaron's interpretation of Harry's world is defined by inscrutable shadows and colored in misty greens and greys, rather than red-and-gold tapestry of movies one and two. This new palette is more natural, and in keeping with that, far more of the movie takes place out of doors. Cuaron gives Hogwarts a greater sense of age as well, making a crumbling courtyard and rickety bridge over a gorge central to many scenes. These locations, as well as the huge pendulum in the entry hall and clock face that Harry sits inside at one point, are a nicely subtle way to weave in the movie's (and book's) theme of time and how the past can't ever be completely undone.
Cuaron handles some scenes very well, especially brief, telling gestures or moments that provide character definition, such as the bit where Hermione grabs Ron's hand which made it into the trailer, and another where the two of them have an awkward conversation outside the Shrieking Shack. Other highlights include Harry and his dorm-mates up late eating candy that makes them impersonate animals (touchingly shows how very teenage they are); and a moment when Sirius, trying desperately to hold Lupin back from his change to werewolf, places his hand over Lupin's chest and says "You live in this heart!" - which is made all the more poignant because we know he can't stop the transformation.
Some plot points have been sacrificed in order to keep the film to a manageable length. Most of the time this works, as when Harry meets with Snape and Lupin in a beautifully lit nighttime corridor, precipitating the handover of the Marauder's Map and Lupin's realization that Peter Pettigrew lives; or when Harry receives the Firebolt from Sirius at a different point in the movie than in the book. There were, however, two changes which seemed inexplicable to me. First, the patronus charm is made into a shield of light rather than an animal which charges down the dementors. This eliminates Harry's discovery of his father within himself through his stag patronus (he does see a stag of light when he rescues himself at the lakeside, but when we see him from the perspective of rescuer there is no stag, and this is never explained). Similarly, even though Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are named on the Marauder's Map, the nicknames and their relationship to Lupin, Pettigrew, Sirius, and James Potter is never explained. It would have taken only a few more minutes to add that explosition, which would have strengthened Harry's cinematic connections to his father tremendously.
All in all, I think it's possible that the viewers who enjoy this film the most will be those who haven't read the book. As someone who is very familiar with the Harry Potter book series, I kept finding myself hung up on the changes to the story (and just how much depth was lost) even as I enjoyed the beautiful cinemetography and deft handling of characters' relationships. My hope is that whoever directs film four is able to take some of Cuaron's artistic sensibilities and combine them with Columbus's sense of wonder and attention to plot detail. That would truly do Harry justice.
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