Film review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone




Being a fan of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, I have been eagerly anticipating the film for some time, if only to see how director Chris Columbus manages to convey the vivid story onto screen. So, now that school’s gone back and cinemas are no longer packed with little tykes, I dragged my sister along to see it. Unfortunately, this was her third viewing and she wasn’t the most attentive audience member. But a Kit-Kat bribe goes a long way…




I found it hard to see this movie as a separate entity from the book, so consequently, my review will probably compare the two rather than review the film in its own right. Generally, I found that the story didn’t flow as well as it could have, and that the characters weren’t as fully developed as in the books. Granted, characters in novels are usually more fleshed out than their on-screen counterparts, that’s the nature of books, so no surprise there. However, the Harry Potter books rely pretty heavily on the characters to tell the story, and they are so well-written that they almost jump out of the page, you can feel their presence near you as you read. So I was disappointed that way, because it seemed to me that what we were seeing on-screen was merely an abridged version of their literary personas, as if a whole book’s worth of Harrys, Hermiones and Rons had been condensed into a few moments of movie making. I should also add here that I have never seen a movie version of a book where the movie has been better, I always prefer the book. So maybe I set myself up for disappointment. Or maybe I should start trying to view films more objectively, merely as one person’s interpretation of a book.




Okay, before this disintegrates into some kind of book vs. film dissertation, let me give a brief plot outline. Harry Potter(played by Daniel Radcliffe), who has grown up at number 4, Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey with his no-nonsense, cold-heated aunt and uncle and their spoilt, over-indulged son Dudley always believed that he lived with them because his parents had been killed in a car accident when he was an infant, leaving him with a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. On Harry’s 11th birthday, he receives a mysterious letter, telling him that he has been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A kindly giant by the name of Hagrid(Robbie Coltrane), the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, delivers the letter and is shocked to find out that Harry has no idea that he is a wizard, as his parents were, and tells Harry that their premature deaths were caused the most evil of wizards, Voldemort(or ‘He Who Shall Not Be Named’). Harry is even more astonished to find out that he too would have been killed by Voldemort, but for some reason the deadly curse did not affect him and ‘rebounded’ onto Voldemort, causing the Dark Lord’s demise and leaving Harry with his odd scar. As Harry’s aunt and uncle are very anti-magic, they never mentioned it to him, instead bringing him up as a normal child, unaware that he is referred to as ‘The Boy Who Lived’ in magic circles and considered a celebrity. So Harry enrols at Hogwarts, the finest magic school in the world, hidden away from Muggles(us non-Magic types).




Like starting at any new school, one must obey school rules, attend classes(eg. ‘Defence Against the Dark Arts’, ‘Transfiguration’ and ‘Potions’), make friends, notably Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger(Emma Watson), earn points for one’s house (‘Gryffindor’) and join the sports team. The sport being ‘Quidditch’; the equipment being magical broomsticks and five flying balls.




Eventually, Harry and his inquisitive friends start to suspect that one of their teachers is embroiled in an evil plot to bring Voldemort back to power and try to catch the culprit. They must use all their knowledge of magic and much courageousness before it’s too late. Inevitably, Harry saves the day, not without a little help from his friends, but we love Harry so that’s okay.




The highlights for me were the stunning visuals and sets, Hogwarts really comes alive in all its eerie splendour. Special effects were very snazzy and must have cost a fortune, the Quidditch match is great, as is Harry’s Invisibility Cloak(I want one!!). If you’ve seen the Harry Potter Playstation game, the Quidditch scenes are practically identical, if slightly more realistic on the movie screen.




Story-wise, some parts felt rushed and not quite right but on the whole okay, and as far as the talent goes, hopefully Daniel Radcliffe gets better as more movies are released…it’s not that he’s bad, he could have just been better. Alan Rickman does a brilliant job as Snape, the sly Potions Master, he just oozes mystery and ambiguity and was my personal standout. Rupert Grint as Ron was great, he also gets most of the good lines actually. Emma Watson not bad but also room for improvement, sometimes it felt like she was reciting lines rather than acting. And yes, this movie is long-ish, but not too long because there’s lots to get through, it never really drags…much. My only complaint length-wise is that this book is the shortest one of all four currently released, and was a two and a half hour film. Obviously, some stuff is left out, but I just hope that the next movies don’t cut too much out for the sake of it. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if they split the third and fourth books into a ‘Lord of the Rings’-style series, but that’s not gonna happen because how can you split a series of seven(eventual) books and seven(eventual) movies into more parts than that??




Look for a discussion on similarities between Star Wars and Harry Potter soon.




Anyway, to conclude, part of me is still undecided about this film. I tend to agree with one review from ‘The Age’ last year, in which the reviewer thought that some of the magic was missing…yes, this is a movie about magic, but for me, some of that special childhood ‘magic’ just wasn’t there. Maybe you actually have to be a child…



And the book is just better!! The fun little details, the humour, the witchcraft trivia, bits of everyday Hogwarts life, lots of things add atmosphere to the book and don’t make it in…read the books




So, after much soul searching and deliberating, I will give this film a 7 out of 10. Slightly lower than the IMDB [DK: Link fixed...] with a 7.5. Wait for the video, or even better, the DVD, for deleted bits and behind the scenes gossip.




Em!!