-Story-
The story of Harry Potter is a truly marvelous thing. My parents gave me the books for Christmas two years ago (the first three that is), but I didn’t get around to reading them until the middle of end year. Cyndi and I actually read them together. And yes I know that is more than a little sickly romantic, but whatever; it was great. We we’re both absolutely enthralled by them. They are great children’s tales with wonderful excitement.
If you’ve been living under a rock or something, I’ll tell you that the story revolves around a little boy named Harry Potter and his first year at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. Both the book and the very faithful movie convey a real sense of magic. Harry is a wonderfully drawn character and a great sort of everyman.
This is especially true in the first book/film as Harry is just starting to learn his trade and discover the magic inside him. All in all a, if you’ll pardon the small pun, bewitching story.
4/5
-Look-
This film looks very nice. The magical quality shines through, as we explore Harry’s strange and wondrous world. The real trick of a film like this is to avoid the pitfalls inherent in a fantastic story. Cheesy effects, or worse, overuse of good effects (a la The Phantom Menace on both counts) can really hamper the viewing experience. Thankfully, Harry Potter for the most part manages to admirably avoid these traps. This is most likely due to the slavish attention to detail and from what I understand the almost tyrannical rule of the author JK Rowling.
The look is absolutely right. I might have imagined things alittle differently in my head, but after seeing the film, I will never be able to think of Harry Potter as anything but the world created in this film. A great job all around that deserves recognition.
5/5
-Acting/Direction-
The casting is also very intelligent. The children are all unknown but stalwart young British thesps, Sir Richard Harris plays Albus Dumbludore the school headmaster, and the cast is rounded out but Robbie Coltrane as Reubeus Hagrid. They are all lovable in their own ways and bring much life to the roles. Everyone, especially the kids really performed very well. I notably enjoyed Rupert Grint’s portrayal of Ron Weasley.
The young Daniel Radcliffe playing the title role is not as experienced as the others, and at times it shows, but he does a nice job overall and will remain in my estimation the best possible choice for Harry. I’m sure his performance was greatly helped along by director Chris Columbus’ efforts. He really seemed to strive to maintain the same tone as the book. For the film to really work we needed to feel the mystery and the wonder that Harry feels. We needed to be shocked and amazed by a game of Quidditch; and thankfully, we we’re.
4/5
-Overall-
I enjoyed this film and sincerely can’t wait for the next. If you haven’t done so yet, see this movie!
