Review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) by Dominic C — 22 Feb 2014

Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone is the first and most family-friendly of a great series. It's perhaps one of the best starts to an epic series that only gets better as it goes along. The story isn't new in some places, but the idea of a school for wizards has never been done nearly as well as this.

(Yes Wizard School by Jane Yolen I mean you). The visual effects are astounding and trully ahead of their time. The characters are all very memorable, and have been very well-casted. If I decided to write an opinon of every character I'd be writing this review for a very long time.

Harry Potter himself is one of the greatest fictional heroes of all time in my opinion and this movie may show it best. He does what many good heroes do and dives into the unknown with courage and loyalty to his friends.

He doesn't know magic like some of his friends do as he was raised by Muggles, but he still does his best and (spoiler alert) winds up saving the day. Ron is a comic relief character done WELL. He does contribute to the story, and does wind up helping Harry and Hermoine in the end.

Like many other characters he shows true bravery and is willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. Hermoine is a great heroine in the sense that her ability to master spells doesn't come from bloodline or great power but more from her own brain.

Professor Dumbledore (played much better by Richard Harris) is a great mentor character, but still has some entertaining lines here and there. Snape is a very seemingly sinister character, but his complexity that develops as the series goes on is fascinating.

Voldemort is a very iconic villian, and there's a very good plot twist related to who's been helping him. The movie is exciting,entertaining, and at times quite funny. It shouldn't let any fan of the series or any non-hater for that matter (yes I'm including you prude Christians in that) disappointed.

See it for yourself and make your own decision.