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HARRY
POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE |
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"Behave Children,
Or You'll Be In The
"Bewitched" Remake" |
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Directed by Chris
Columbus - Written by
J.K. Rowling, Steven
Kloves
Starring Daniel
Radcliffe, Richard
Harris, Maggie Smith,
Emma Watson
Distributed by Warner
Brothers - 2001 -
152mins - Rated PG |
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Let the magic begin. |
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Okay,
I'll admit: I read and enjoy the Harry Potter book series. With that
out of the way, I believe it is okay to say that I like this movie as
well.
Daniel Radcliffe, while not a great actor, makes a very good Harry
Potter, the seemingly normal boy who turns out to be a wizard and
attends a school to learn his special powers. His other kid co-stars
are basically on the same level (with the exception of Rupert Gint as
Harry's friend Ron, who shows some extraordinary promise).
The special effects are nothing truly special, but they certainly get
the job done. The same goes for the other technical aspects (the
production design is a standout).
Kids won't care about those aspects anyway: they want to see Harry go
on his many adventures (and secretly, their parents are just as
eager). That is where "Harry Potter" hits a wall. The book seems to by
adapted page, by page, by page, and the movie fills overstuffed.
The kids won't notice it, but the adults will. Rest assured, they
won't care either because they will have too much fun watching the
enormous adult cast of renowned British actors (Richard Harris, John
Hurt, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, and many others).
Overall, a solid film for the young folk and their parents, who
finally get a movie to watch with their kids that they won't be bored
with. |
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© Written by Jacob Hall -
Email
Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
This is
good kids entertainment. Nicely done!
However, it lacks a depth or a semblance of
weight for adults in the audience.
Richard Propes' Comment
This is a
great film for kids and a good film for adults.
Directed by Christopher Columbus, it's a
surprisingly solid piece of entertainment. I'll
admit that I was skeptical as to whether or not
Columbus could pull this off and please the
millions of fans of this series. Largely, he has
done so. The script, in an effort to please fans
of the book, is a bit too busy for a "film."
That said, the storyline still works because the
book by J.K. Rowling works so well. While not
brilliant performances, the lead kids in this
film do an admirable job that largely fits their
characters. Of course, by now, the famed
Quidditch scene is well known and certainly well
done. The sets are quite nice and the supporting
cast of characters do well. I have not read
these books, so I'm largely critiquing from the
angle of a movie buff. I enjoyed seeing this
once, admired it greatly but doubt I will see it
again unless I somehow acquire kids anytime
soon.
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