I personally loved it!

Rating: 4/10 (3 January 2002)

I loved that shot where you saw him from behind, some of the lovers dialogue was a little corny but the duel shots were great. Christopher Lee looks cool and especially the army shot presumably of clones on the ramp, as well as the one where he is riding the speeder on Tatooine, that was cool as well, as for the bounty hunter shots, it was well worth 13.50. I suppose they added the bonus movie 'Harry Potter and the Cinematographer's Stone' to satisfy the non Star Wars fans, I didn't mind that too much really though.

It seemed no sooner was that old guy Dimpledell and that chick lighting lamps than I was waking up to a train heading away from a huge guy (Beorn from 'The Hobbit' I think he was). I must have been conscious some of the time I suppose though because I remember something about an evil black warrior who turns people to the dark side and seems to have a bit of Phantom of the Opera/and that 'open your mind' guy from Total Recall, complex. I suppose it's a comfort to know that the underground wizard teachers are as ditsy and incompetent favouritists as every-day ones and that the students are as snobby, stuck up and in short cle she-ish as unskilled writers and Disney have always renderred them, and the best news is that Gandalf found a place to settle down and share his knowledge, also as a part-time Santa Clause. I also remember a part of it where one kid pulls out a cloak, holds it infront of himself discovering that it makes him invisible and another kid says, "I know what that is! thats an invisible cloak!" Harry must truly be a unique kid I would think, to walk through a wall to a magicians city, make a wand send books flying, find out he is bill gates' heir (or the equivalent), see a talking hat read his mind and then see a 20ft troll and still be wowing when tiny white butterflies appear out of nowhere.

Rowling does not really have a very fertile imagination. Harry Potter is an uninspiring two step equasion. Nobody could really believe that kids would remember any of the 'love' messages or care about them, what they remember is how to cast spells, use a wand, respond to authority, respond to danger, and respond to warning. Harry Potter has no sense of narrative or entertainment, and certainly none of originality. There are points that you hope it will go somewhere but at the same time you can't see it happening, and your fears are rewarded. 10 year olds minus would like this, I am mystified as to where the trans generationalism is. Studios basically don't care about our opinions, because most blockbusters now days seem to justify thier budget in two weeks or less, after that we can pretend all we like that our opinions matter.
In all I would award an 8/10 I suppose, they have betrayed just enough to us but not too much about Episode II. See that trailer while Harry Potter remains in the cinemas, what I really like is that they perfectly picked thier movies, that trailer has been seen by 2 of the 3 biggest american audiences of 2001.