Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

☆ ☆ ☆

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) – C. Columbus

Aito’s Guest Review:  I rate Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone only three stars because the director dropped way too many scenes.  The characters looked different to what I expected and their voices were different as well.  I think the book was better because it had better scenes that I imagined. The movie was interesting so I might as well watch the second movie but I think the book was better. 

Art adds:  It was fun to watch the kids enjoying this film (despite what Aito says above).  Having not read the book (save for a couple of chapters that Aito read to me), I wasn’t as concerned about the fidelity of the film to the novel.  To me, it seemed to have the right tone of fun, mystery, and scares for kids of that age (9 and 6).  Perhaps Voldemort was even a bit too scary for Amon.  For me, it was fun to see familiar British actors in these roles (Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, John Cleese, and Robbie Coltrane who was especially good).  The music (already familiar) added to the magic.  I don’t know how I would feel watching this on my own, but seen through the boys’ eyes I would probably rate it higher than Aito does.