Gryffindor 150, Muggle Director 0

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2001)

After reading a bit of the book, and being totally enthralled with Rowling's witty and silly sense of humour, I can see why some who are fans of the book can think Colombus's celluloid interpretation is a bit diluted. Nevertheless, there is no fault in watering down the hijinx and hilarity of the three Gryffindor adventurers. How many people would have stayed in the theater if the Hogwarts Sorting Hat had, as it did in the book, broken into a musical number?
Forget the campy effects and the somewhat messy directing. The movie belongs to the young actors, who deliver the cinematic snitch, and make Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger come alive with true magic.