Less than expected

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2001)

I was both anxious and reluctant to see the Harry Potter movie, because it is always tricky to make a movie live up to the level of the book. With the J. K. Rowling involved with the movie making, I expected it to be a fairly consistent movie, with the book story only edited to make it fit within the timespan of a movie, and keep people's attention (easier to do in writing than in visual aspects).
Unfortunately, parts were apparently edited out without much attention to consistency. To start at the end... Why was Snape's test (right before Dumbledore's) removed, while it was the main basis for the points given for Hermione in the end? What was the point in having Neville try to stop Harry, Ron and Hermione from leaving the Gryffindor common room, when the movie did not contain the reasons why alot of people (including Neville) felt that Harry, Ron and Hermione shouldn't be risking losing more points for Gryffindor?
It all adds up to a rather weak storyline, and frankly I would have been at a loss seeing this movie without reading the book. It just doesn't add up. Without the book knowledge to fill in the blanks, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone seems hardly more than a movie with alot of publicity around it, and a poorly developed storyline *in the movie itself*.
Of course, the book and the storyline therein is marvelous!