just a kids movie - a good one though

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2004)

I confess that I did not read any of the Harry Potter books, and I am afraid I will not have the time to do it during the current reincarnation of my soul. This being said, I am judging the film by what I saw on the screen, and I cannot refer to the many details the book afficionados seem to be that familiar with. My opinion is that this film belongs to the category of kids film, and should not be over-estimated or over-judged beyond. It is actually quite good in its own terms, and doing good kids movies should not be under-estimated in a world poluated with that many bad taste or plain boring movies targeting young audiences, unfortunately many claiming Disney descendence, or even bearing Disney labels. My young teen-age soon enjoyed the film, and so did my wife and myself.
The good parts are the overall atmosphere, darker, and less surprising if you saw the previous films in the series, but still very consistent and catching. Computerized film graphics is by now an art in itself, and the makers of this film master it fully. I did not like that much the horse-bird character, which looks like being intended to generate some affection, but fails to bear a personality as some other recent film monsters.
Acting is good, with the kids trio, now on the verge of their teen years growing up still as a consistent team, although Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter seems to have less acting resources than Emma Watson in Hermione, who may develop into a real screen star. Interesting to guess how the makers of the series will deal with the inevitable growing pains and crisis of the young actors. A good team of good and better actors surrounds the kids, with Michael Gambon having taken over the key role of dean Dumbledore after the passing of Richard Harris in a flawless manner.
Sure, the fans can and will build a world around the books and the films. Even for the non-initiated or beyond the age groups, like the ones I belong to, there is enough good stuff to enjoy in this film. 8 our of 10 on my personal scale.