Brilliant...magical...great entertainment

Rating: 9/10 (3 December 2001)

The only regret I have about HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE is that I'm not ten years old anymore. Alas, I'm double that age (still young, obviously!!), and only discovered the wonder of Harry Potter, Hogwarts and Quidditch eighteen months ago. Of course, I've since purchased all four novels and two supplementaries (FANTASTIC CREATURES and QUIDDITCH), and have just seen the film, which opened five days ago here. Yes, I suppose we had our own books and films when we were children (including FINDERS KEEPERS, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, BATMAN, THE WITCHES), but nothing which united (nearly) everyone, and appealed to parents and older children as much as HARRY POTTER. The simplicity of the concept is, of course, the key: it's a fairly formulaic plot, with semi-predictable twists (of course, I'm speaking more from an adult point of view here) and the subject matter is something which will continue to fascinate children for generations to come - magic. The film is, in my opinion, the best possible outcome of attempting to adapt the novel: the Quidditch game is spot-on, the child actors are well-cast (even if they do try to overact in places, but one has to expect this), the magic of Hogwarts Castle and Hogwarts Express and the invisibility cloak is definitely there. Some have accused it of dragging in the middle - I must say I was expecting this, being a part-Hollywood production and nearly 150 minutes long, but I never experienced it: I was obviously too preoccupied with the wonder and magic of it all. I couldn't help thinking how I would have reacted to such a film ten years ago: I would have surely been in heaven. The real magic of the story is, of course, Rowling's promotion of "dorky" behaviour, which has been victimised in the last fifteen years from Americanised "satirical" TV series (THE SIMPSONS, SOUTH PARK, etc...) and general irresponsibility by marketers aiming their products at children. For example, children as young as seven and eight are worrying about "image" - boys must have short spikey blonde-tipped hair like the boy-bands, and girls must dress like Brittney: they are being forced to grow up far too quickly, and are exposed to images etc which have detracted from traditional children's stories...until now. Ten-year-olds don't listen to Peter Coombe anymore, because there's no such performer out there: youngsters still have The Wiggles, and Hi-Five is doing its best, but acts like Brittney Spears & Co. have broken into this (very lucrative) age bracket - kids must now act like teenagers, another culture which didn't exist pre-rock'n'roll. But with texts like HARRY POTTER, MONSTERS INC, A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, etc..., kids can be kids again: it's becoming accepted once more. Hell, HARRY POTTER promotes reading, playing chess, intelligence, initiative - and glasses (!!), five things which have certainly been "outlawed" in the past decade by THE SIMPSONS and SOUTH PARK-style shows. Rating: 9/10.