Labrynthine, Labrynth-style fantasy, flawed but fascinating

Rating: Null/10 (3 December 2001)

The studios must have agonised over how to translate JK Rowling's 'instant classic' to the big screen. Perhaps this was its problem. From the first, each story is so tightly-plotted and intricately woven that it is nigh on impossible to have every important detail crammed into two and a half hours. Yet, this is exactly what Chris Columbus and his stellar cast attempted to do.
As Lord of the Rings prepares to enter the box office race, it is difficult not to draw comparisons, but LotR has an instant advantage in that many of its cast members used to be celebrated child actors: In Elijah Wood, we see a promising pint-sized thespian full-grown into an outright star, and Sean 'Goonies' Astin may have struggled to maintain his profile since the 1980s, but still has the Hollywood seal of someone who has grown up in the limelight. The main problem with the pre-teen Potter stars is quite simply that they are children, and it is hard to expect eleven year-olds to carry a multi-million-dollar project.
Still, there are delightful performances from the young cast, especially the dazzling Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. Rupert Grint is an exceptionally accurate Ron Weasley, and Daniel Radcliffe lives and breathes the role of Potter. Yes, at their young age, there are many moments where their performances are stilted and stage-school-like. On the other hand, they have a refreshingly innocent quality that is often missing from big-name child stars like the original Potter choice, Haley Joel Osment. At the crucial moments, like the affecting encounter with the Mirror of Erised, Radcliffe expertly conveys the sense of loss and longing the role requires. As for the adults, Alan Rickman is a simply perfect Snape, and Ian Hart an unrecognisable Quirrel.
For an adult watching the movie, it is all too easy to criticise the film's attempts to capture all the events at the expense of the chapters where the characters are developed - it didn't escape many notices that most of Potter's scenes of actually performing magic are edited out. Still, we can only hope that the following films will redress this balance, and bring out the full essence of these coming-of-age dramas. This first Harry Potter movie will delight fans of the books, but is unlikely to recruit new readers. However, anyone under the age of twelve will be absolutely spellbound.