Necessities of Adaptation

Rating: Null/10 (15 November 2002)

The film is decent but has some failings. The primary one being that it follows the book too precisely. Alterations need to be made in order to convert a book to a screen adaptation; and due to fears of disappointing fans, these necessary changes were not made. The movie plods along at a turtle's pace. There is no speed up to move faster through slow sections, and a neglect of slowing down through the important sections. For example, an opening scene in which Harry Potter receives his letter to Hogwarts could have been shortened, without taking away from the film. Meanwhile his entire time spent at the school was run through, such that I never got a feeling for Harry's experience. Many comparisons have been made between Harry Potter and LOTR because the movies came out at the same time, and both are adaptations from well respected books. However, LOTR is an excellent example of how to edit the content in the process of conversion. Harry Potter demonstrates how to show a little bit of everything, without removing unnecessary bits and amplifying important moments. Therefore the film plodded through the story, as if performing a chore... Overall I would only recommend this movie if you live preoccupied with the notion that every decent film adaptation is actually blasphemy to the book.