Harry Potter And The Sorcererâs Stone
In many ways, itâs hard not to appreciate the many production aspects of what went into a film like this (the first in the series from 2001): The special effects, costume design, cinematography, art direction, editing, and most anything else you can name are all top-notch, right down to a supporting cast featuring a slew of British acting royalty including Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Fiona Shaw, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt, Warwick Davis, Julie Walters, Alan Rickman, and John Cleese. However, any intelligent critic of cinema and pop culture would be hard-pressed to admit that the basic values of this franchise as intended to be digested by children are pretty much anything but shallow, with the one buried moral of the story seeming to be âAlways be loyal to your friendsâ. Still, itâs easy to see how millions of youngsters embraced the mythology, with its themes of âkid empowermentâ and how children can be the heroes of such a grand and epic story (for better or worse). In his first outing in the pivotal role of Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe gives a fairly passable performance, reciting his lines as well as he can and always being good to flash a trademark goony grin during the happy moments of the story. As the bumbling best friend Ron Weasley, Rupert Grint also comes off equally well-coached by director Chris Columbus, and his exasperation at key points are usually spot on. But both the two male leads are outshined by Emma Watson as the girl witch Hermione Granger, who possesses both poise and an unteachable photogenic charisma that continually makes her the most watchable of the trio even at such a young age. Director Columbus deserves credit on touching on all the finer points of the mythology explaining the rules and nuances of the fictional universe, leaving no stone unturned and no viewer scratching their heads enough so that it comes off as a faithful and fully developed interpretation of J.K. Rowlingâs original novel. The story itself though is a bit weak, seeming more concerned with establishing all the characters and laying the groundwork rather than being compelling in its own right, with the only emotional resonance at all coming when Harry sees his long-dead parents reflected at him through a magic mirror. It is this lack of visceral thrust that basically makes the viewer hang on until the end (a showdown between Harry and a possessed evil magician), making it all feel like the pilot episode of a rather ordinary (but big budget) childrenâs fantasy show. Many of the big-name actors though, seem to be having fun with the material as they collect their paycheck, and the fact that this fantasy world is so expansive makes it serve as a nice distraction for a couple of hours, so if the creative people involved in this enterprise can use it to amass a fortune, then more power to themâŚ
7/10