Sorry for the delay, I had to clarify some things about the movie with Shena Tokala at Pens, Thespians, and Words ,who is a fan of the books and movies.
Thoughts: I actually watched a Harry Potter movie. I am a very Conservative Christian and as a kid I never watched them because of the "witchcraft". But my friend, who had watched the movies, said there wasn't that much in them, so I watched the movie. It wasn't much bad stuff in there. There were a few spells and some general magic used. So if you are greatly offended by it, do not watch it. There are a lot of great movies out there you should see like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. So if don't like the idea don't watch the movie, simple as that. Now on to my thoughts about the movie.
Thoughts About the Movie: I wasn't expecting much from this movie since it is often considered one of lesser Harry Potter movies and it is a movie aimed at families and kids, so I did not think it was going to be that great. But it was actually an OK movie, especially for a family movie. The first 15-20 minutes of Harry Potter were really stupid, ridiculous, weird and just plain awful. I was wondering if this was going to be a watchable movie or not. It is possible the worst opening to an overall decent movie. But after the first 15-20 minutes it got better but still a little slow. Even though the beginning was awful but if you can survive the first 15-20 minutes it is a decent movie until the second half then it is a good movie. Most the characters were interesting, especially the young girl Hermione Granger. It also had some good humor and had an Indiana Jones feel to it at the very end of the movie. After watching this I think I want to watch the rest of the movies in the series. I will try to write the review for each movie before seeing the next one in the series so I will have an un-bias opinion of the movies and after watching all of the movies I will review the series as a whole.
Note: It might take a while to watch the whole series since the delivery of the Blu-Rays is so slow, I can only rent one movie a week in the mail.
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure,
Release Date: 16 November 2001
Running Time: 152 minutes
MMPA rating: PG
The Good: Great John Williams soundtrack, Well placed humor, Second half was good,
The Bad: Awful first 15-20 minutes, First half was slow to start with,
Plot: The following plot summery is copied from Wikipedia.com.
Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary boy, living with his hostile relatives, the Dursleys in Surrey. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from a mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid, that he is actually a wizard, famous in the Wizarding World for surviving an attack by the evil Lord Voldemort when Harry was only a baby. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his attack on Harry rebounded, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead and rendering Voldemort powerless. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After buying his school supplies from the hidden wizarding street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9¾ in King's Cross Station.
On the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a large, but poor, pure-blood wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch born to non-magical parents. Once they arrive at the school, Harry and all of the other first-year students are sorted into four different houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. As Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and witches, Harry successfully begs the magical Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin. He winds up in Gryffindor, along with Ron and Hermione.
At Hogwarts, Harry begins learning wizardry and also discovers more about his past and his parents. Harry inadvertently makes Gryffindor's Quidditch team (a sport in the wizarding world where people fly on broomsticks) as a Seeker, learning that his father was also a member of the team. Watch the movie to see what happens next.
Plot: 6.5/10- The first 20 minutes were just awful, however the last parts of the movie was OK.
Action: 5.4/10- This isn't really an action movie but there is good adventure.
Acting: 6.9/10- This had some of the better kid acting I have seen in a movie. The other actors in the movie were also solid. Except in the beginning of the movie were the acting is terrible.
Special effects: 6.0/10- Since the movie is almost eleven years old you really can't expect much from the special effects. But they were not any were in the same realm of quality as Star Wars: Episode I or The Lord of the Rings.
Soundtrack: 9.0/10- Another great John Williams soundtrack. You can hear a few slight hints of other famous John Williams soundtracks like Star Wars and Indiana Jones in some parts of it.
Comedy: 7.9/10- It had some very surprisingly funny jokes and humor in some parts.
Would I Watch This Again: If I like the other Harry Potter movies, I might watch this at some point to complete the series.
Overall: 6.5/10- Despite the slow and ridiculous start Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone manages to be a good movie in the second half.
Closing comments: This a good start to the movie franchise and I hope the others movies are much better.
Recommended for: Fantasy fans, Adventure fans,
If you have not read my reviews for the other Harry Potter movies please click on the links below.
Harry Potter Series
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone Review
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Review.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Review.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Review
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Review
Click here to check out more of our movie reviews.
If you want to contact us or have any please sent an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.
Great review, glad you liked the second half of the film! :D I agree, the acting is good here and it gets even better as the series progresses and the actors get more comfortable in their roles and the three children actors get older. The special effects also get better. And I agree, John William's soundtrack is wonderful! :)
ReplyDeleteHave fun watching the rest of the films, they are very awesome :)
Shena
@Shena Tokala: Thanks! :D I really like the Hedwig theme, that was my favorite from the movie.
ReplyDelete-James
I like that song very much as well, it's so good :)
ReplyDeleteLol, my parents were so conservative that they never let my sister and I even read or watch Narnia, much less Harry Potter! LOL Anyway, good review; I will look forward to hearing all your thoughts on the series. I won't be seeing this anytime soon, though. :D
ReplyDelete~Jamie
@Shena Tokala: I listened to the song while I was writing the post. :D
ReplyDelete@Jamie: I am also very conservative, that is why I did not watch it until I was a young adult but so far you are not missing all that much.
-James