Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Movie Reviews | Nov 16th, 2001
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Ian Hart, Alan Rickman, and John Cleese
Written By: Steve Kloves
Directed By: Chris Columbus
I’m sure most of you have read these books or most of you at least know what’s it about so why not go right into the review. I have NOT read any of the books because I don’t like reading too much.
The only books I read lately and more than once was The Lord Of The Rings. But from seeing this movie, I’ll probably read the books now. I wanted to go into the movie with an open mind and as a general viewer who hasn’t read the books. I must say this movie was really great. I loved the epic feel to it, that these books and movies can appeal to all ages.
From listening to other people that read the books, they stick to it mostly. They added a dream like sequence that wasn’t in the book. I believe J.K. Rowling wrote the scene for the movie. It’s just amazing for someone who was on welfare to write this story and now is one of the richest writers ever. My mom, who read the book felt they left out some things from the book like more stuff from their classes at Hogwarts, and the rivalry between Harry and Draco. She liked the book better but still thought it was a terrific movie. I thought the actors did a fantastic job at portraying the characters from the books. Daniel Radcliffe did a dead on version of Harry Potter. It’s funny because during the filming, his voice was changing so they had to hire a voice over actor to do some of his lines. I wanted to kill all of his relatives though. Especially that brat of a cousin. (Annoying British kid voice) Mummy, Daddy, Shall I have some fish n chips, I want It now, I want the whole world. UGH! Robbie Coltrane was awesome as Hagrid. Some how they made him bigger than everyone else. Either he was on stilts or done with computers. I guess he was the comic relief of the movie. Oh, I shouldn’t have said that.
My favorite character was Ron Weasley. I don’t know why but he was. The one I disliked was that girl, Miss over dramatic bookworm Hermione. I don’t know if it was the character or the little girl that played her that I didn’t like. She just felt so pompous and stuck-up to me. Richard Harris is always great in movies. He played Headmaster Dumbledore. Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) is also great in every roll he plays. There was a lot of scenes that I really liked too.
The Quidditch Match was really exciting to watch. It was like Rugby, Soccer, Football and Baseball on broomsticks. Wish it was a little bit longer though. I also thought the mail owls towards the beginning of the film was funny to see. I also liked the Diagon Alley and the dark forest scenes. The alley scene was really cool to see with all the shops. The set design on that scene was great. I loved Hogwarts School. It kind of reminded me of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. All the pictures have ghosts in them and the stairs move. I wish they showed more of the ghosts and John Cleese’s character.
My main disappointments with the movie was that it sometimes doesn’t tell some parts effectively for non readers. The other complaint was that the CGI wasn’t the greatest or could have been better. The Quidditch match was fun to watch but the CGI was weak. I wish there was a way to do it the old fashion way but make it look good. I guess you have to have an imagination to watch this movie and not have so many complaints. Besides the Quidditch match, I thought the Troll and the three headed dog Fluffy was poorly done and didn’t look believable. Plus I didn’t like how they used CGI actors for stunts. For example, one of the kids at Hogwarts flies a broomstick and sometimes the character is CGI and it looks too cartoony. I don’t know how they could make that better but I don’t like the way they made it. It doesn’t look real at all.
Overall, I thought the movie was really good, with a few flaws. I liked John William’s score a lot BUT I think he might have overdone the main theme throughout the movie. He should have done a little bit more underscoring more. All the actors and actresses did their job very well. The direction of Chris Columbus was fine to me. CGI could have been a lot better. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing this again and seeing more movies about this fantasy world. This movie will make a shitload of movie. Get there early to see it.
Rating: PG
Running Time: 152 minutes
Overall Rating: