All aboard, a blockbuster directed by a true director

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2004)

You expect to be disappointed by a much awaited and hyped new release, but 10 minutes in and I knew this was a great film. Radcliffe really can act, depending on the situation he appears like a young boy, someone bearing a heavy burden, an angry teenager...It's fairly creepy, I would be wary of taking young children, particularly if they haven't read the book. The film is liberated from the confines of the school, very little happening in the classroom. Cuaron certainly wields his own magic on the film even doing well incorporating the effects (something he is not known for) smoothly. The Knight Bus sequence is fun and thrilling, and there is a lot to laugh at without breaking the mystery. This is my favourite Potter book, but the film did not let me down. The plot concentrates on the more important characters, most of the other pupils are just background. I would quite happily have sat in the cinema all day. Mike Newell, you have a hard act to follow.