Enjoyable, but....

Rating: Null/10 (27 November 2001)

I took my two sons (7 & 8) to see the movie and they absolutely enjoyed it. I thought the movie was good, but was disappointed with how it quickly rushed through the introduction. In order for those who haven't read the books to understand how important Harry Potter's character is, I thought the movie should have focused on some of the smaller points in the book, i.e. the celebration of the wizarding world after Lord Voldemort was believed to have been defeated and of course the memorable first time he boards the Hogwarts express and you sense the excitement of the Weasley family when they discover that they have just met Harry Potter, the excitement aboard the train when word gets out that Harry Potter is on the train and how astonished Harry is with all this attention. But enough about what wasn't portrayed, overall I think that the movie was done satisfactory. Not many can successfully translate a book motivated on pure emotions into a movie. It may be able to satisfy you visually, but not connect you with the characters the way your own imagination can. The actors were wonderful and played their characters true to form, but again I wished that they had more time to better portray their characters, especially Snape. I only hope that those who haven't read the books but have seen the movie will be motivated to read the books so they too can understand what all the hype is about. These books have given new life to reading instead of watching T.V. or playing electronic mindless games. I'll definitely go to see the next Harry Potter movie, but I doubt that I'll rush out to see it as soon as it's released. I will however stand in line to buy the next book!!!