About as good as it can be for 2-1/2 hours

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2001)

Ron and Hagrid steal the show and Daniel Radcliffe is a great Harry. Chris Columbus and the crew do about as well as anyone could have done with only having 2-1/2 hours to tell the story. I would have loved to have seen a lot more character development, setting of moods and use of supporting characters. But the only way to do that would be to turn it into an eight hour movie. Personally, I would LOVE to see that eight hour version. I wish he would have made it 8 hours. Professor Snape and Draco do very well, as well. Emma Watson as Hermione is an absolutely beautiful young woman and does a good job. I also liked Fang. I thought the special effects were very good and the sets are incredible. My favorite part of the movie is the chess game. My only complaint would be that it's choppy. It doesn't flow very well.