Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Chris Columbus, USA, 2001, 142 minutes

Welcome to Hogwarts, where breakfast means dollops of owl poo in your porridge. This is the world that young Harry finds himself in when he discovers he’s a wizard.

As a Harry Potter buff anyway, the casting in the film is absolutely spot on. Daniel Radcliffe has a nice line in incredulous looks and cheesy grins. At times he does seem a tad wooden, but the co-stars make up for it. Rupert Grint is brilliant as Ron (he should be in Grange Hill), and the adults are uniformly excellent. Maggie Smith, Richard Harris, Zoe "I want more money in the next one" Wannamaker et al make the most of what essentially boils down to a series of cameos.

A few complaints: the CGI is decidedly ropey in places, and the script becomes twee on occasions. However, for every cave troll there is a quidditch match (I swear it gets more breathtaking every time I see it). It’s surprisingly dark in places too - the unicorn vampire is genuinely nasty, and when Harry's nemesis Voldemort finally reveals himself, it is very unpleasant indeed.

Harry Potter is a kid's movie above all, but don't let that put you off. The franchise can only get better as it, and its actors mature, and it more than redeems director Chris Columbus for Home Alone. To paraphrase the immortal words of wand-man Mr. Ollivander, I think we can expect great things from our Mr. Potter.

Review by Adam Woollaston
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2002