Review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) by Louis B — 07 Oct 2014

Louis Buhler.

English 101.

10/07/14.

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone.

Any Harry Potter movie can have an impact on anyone with a colorful imagination, but the first Harry Potter movie is perhaps the best. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone is the first of the epic series created by J.K. Rowlings that can be watched by the whole family. This movie has many appealing characteristics that consist of a good story line, camera work, transitions, and acting.

The storyline of The Sorcerer's Stone is very appealing to not only children that fantasize about being a wizard but to parents that can also broaden their imagination along with their child forming a new bond between them. This movie is about a boy named Harry Potter who is left on his aunt and uncle's doorstep as a baby when his parents are murdered by a dark wizard. When the dark wizard approached Harry to kill him the curse had back fired killing him and leaving Harry with only a scar. Often mistreated and misunderstood by his aunt and uncle Harry catches a break when he finds out that he too is a wizard and will attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like his parents once did. Harry finds home in this school until he faces his worst nightmare for the first time to start this epic series. The storyline of this movie deserves a full bucket of popcorn because there's hardly a dull moment leaving your imagination run wild.

The camera work of this movie is excellent. In the first scene where the audience sees the castle there is a slow upward pan of the students paddling across the lake to the fire lit giant castle in the distance. The shots are really clear and the audience tends to lose itself in the beautiful back drops of the shots that most sometimes forget it is only a movie. The camera work of the movie deserves a full bucket of popcorn for the excellent time and effort they put into each shot.

J.K. Rowling did a great job at over looking the transitions making sure that most of the movie followed hand and hand with the book except for a few minor conflicts. Though the transitions can be drawn out from time to time it is hard to notice because you can get lost in the beauty of the castle in each drawn out shot. The transitions deserve a full bucket of popcorn because they are clear and to the point with meaningful details in each scene.

The acting of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone was pretty good considering there was not much experience with their lead roles. Daniel Radcliffe who played the troublesome role of Harry is a son of a casting agent. Daniel made his first debut with the Harry Potter series when he auditioned for the part in 2001 soon to become one of the industries most successful actors. Rupert Grint played the role of Ronald Weasley who was Harry's best friend and partner in crime. Rupert Grint was born in England and did not have much experience in the movie industry until he too auditioned at age 11. Emma Watson played Hermione Granger who was the brains of the trio. Emma seems to have the most experience out of the three not only being an actor and model but also releasing a clothing line. The acting of this movie deserves a half a bucket of popcorn because even though the acting is decent some of the emotions seem forced and exaggerated which shows their lack of experience.

The movie as a whole deserves a full bucket of popcorn. Besides the acting which is easy to get past because of how impressive the three are at such a young age, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone is a great movie for the whole family. This movie will leave your imagination wandering with a wonderful bonding experience with anyone else that has seen the movie also. This movie is a must see.