"Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" Reviewed November, 2001
I loved it. And I can't wait to see it again.
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is filled with visual splendor,
valiant heroes, spectacular special effects, and irresistible characters.
It is only fair to say that it is truly magical.
Fanatical fans of the books (in other words, just about everyone who has
read them) should take a deep breath and prepare themselves to be thrilled.
But first they have to remember that no movie could possibly fit in all of
the endlessly inventive details author J.K. Rowling includes or match the
imagination of readers who have their own ideas about what Harry's famous
lightning-bolt scar looks like or how Professor McGonagall turns into a cat.
Move all of that over into a safe storage part of your brain and settle back
with those who are brand new to the story to enjoy the way that screenwriter
Steven Kloves, production designer Stuart Craig, and director Chris Columbus
have brought their vision of the story to the screen. Even these days, when
a six year old can tell the difference between stop-motion and computer
graphics, there are movies like this one to remind us of our sense of wonder
and show us how purely entertaining a movie can be.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), of course, is the orphan who lives with the odious
Dursleys, his aunt, uncle, and cousin. They make him sleep in a closet
under the stairs and never show him any attention or affection. On his 11th
birthday, he receives a mysterious letter, but his uncle destroys it before
he can read it. Letters keep coming, and the Dursleys take Harry to a
remote lighthouse to keep him from getting them. Finally one is delivered
to the lighthouse in the very large person of Hagrid, a huge, bearded man
with a weakness for scary-looking creatures. It turns out that the letters
were coming from Hogwarts, a boarding school for young witches and wizards,
and Harry is expected for the fall term.
Hagrid takes Harry to buy his school supplies in Diagon Alley, a small
corner of London that like so much of the magic world exists near but apart
from the world of the muggles (humans). We are thus treated to one of the
most imaginative and engaging settings ever committed to film, mixing the
London of Dickens and Peter Pan with sheer, bewitching fantasy. A winding
street that looks like it is hundreds of years old holds a bank run by
gnomes, a store where the wand picks the wizard, and a pub filled with an
assortment of curious characters.
Then it's off to the train station, where the Hogwarts Express leaves from
Track 9¾. On the train, Harry meets his future best friends, Ron (Rupert
Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and gets to try delicacies like chocolate
frogs (they really hop) and Bertie Bott's Everyflavor Beans (and they do
mean EVERY FLAVOR).
And then things really get exciting, with classes in potions and "defense
against the dark arts," a sport called Quidditch (a sort of flying
soccer/basketball), a mysterious trap door guarded by a three-headed dog
named Fluffy, a baby dragon named Norbert, some information about Harry's
family and history, and some important lessons in loyalty and courage.
The settings manage to be sensationally imaginative and yet at the same time
so clearly believable and lived-in and just plain right that you'll think
you could find them yourself, if you could get to Track 9¾. The adult
actors are simply and completely perfect. Richard Harris turns in his
all-time best performance as headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Maggie Smith
(whose on-screen teaching roles extend from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"
to "Sister Act") brings just the right tone of dry asperity to Professor
McGonagall, and Robbie Coltrane is a giant with a heart to match as Hagrid
(for me, the most astounding special effect of all was the understated way
the movie made him look as though he was 10 feet tall). Alan Rickman
provides shivers as potions master Professor Snape, and the brief glimpse of
Julie Walters (an Oscar nominee for last year's "Billy Elliott") as Ron's
mother made me wish for much more. The kids are all just fine, though
mostly just called upon to look either astonished or resolute.
A terrific book is now a terrific movie. Every family should enjoy them
both.
Parents should know that the movie is very intense and has some scary
moments, including children in peril. Children are hurt, but not seriously.
There are some tense moments and some gross moments. A ghost character
shows how he got the name "Nearly Headless Nick." There are characters of
many races, but all major characters are white. Female characters are
strong and capable.
Families who see this movie should talk about what made the books so popular
with children all over the world. Why did Dumbledore leave Harry with the
Dursleys? Why did Harry decide not to be friends with Draco? Harry showed
both good and bad judgment - when? How can you tell? What do you think are
some of the other flavors in Everyflavor Beans?
Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy "The Wizard of Oz," "Willie
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Copyright © 2000-2008, Jupiter Parents
