lots of fun, ignore nit-pickers...

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2001)

I attended a press screening of HPATSS, a week before the general public, in a theatre full of other press and their families. As I left the theatre, I heard lots of rumblings. Mostly positive. Some of which annoyed me enough to write this now...
Right off the bat, let me express that I'm angered that a movie was made in the first place. Finally kids and adults around the world were reading, loving reading, and using/rediscovering their imaginations. Now instead of picturing Hogwarts in their heads, we all see in our heads the same visualized Hogwarts, Harry, etc... But a film was shot, and can't be ignored, so - that said, allow me to get to the film:
I really enjoyed the movie. Easily one of the years best, and sure to be a classic (It's no Memento, but that's ok). As a former Nickelodeon employee, I felt it was my responsibility years ago to read what everyone in that demographic had already read - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I found the book to be incredible, and couldn't wait for the Chamber of Secrets. In any event, I'm a huge fan of the books, of which I've read all of them more than once. I figured if any one could find fault with a HP movie, it would be me. After all, I'm a a critical person, a film school graduate, and a huge Harry Potter fan. I can't find much fault in the movie though. The only critique I have for it is that it felt unbalanced.

My real beef though is with the rumblings that the book is better. I'm constantly hearing it. Of course the books are better. I agree, full heartedly. The book(s) are great. Full of detail, fun, adventure. But comparing the two is unfair. A movie has a limited amount of time/space to tell it's tale. A book can always add a page, a scene, a detail. I must have heard "they left the _________ scene out of the movie" a dozen times. What an annoying criticism. If they shot every scene of the book, the movie would run 4 hours at least. Why is it so hard for us to just sit back and enjoy a really fun movie, without looking for fault? There's so much to be appreciated in the movie, and perhaps most importantly I think we can all appreciate that it's possible this movie will encourage more people to read the books, and just read in general.