Harry Potter Book series fans beware! Not at all *exactly* like the book.

Rating: 5/10 (22 November 2001)

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Harry Potter books. We were both disappointed by the movie. One of the primary reasons for our disappointment has been all the hype about how closely the movie follows the book. While the movie follows the book better than some, there are numerous places where the book plot was cast aside by some editor with no appreciation for what makes the books so magical in the first place. Important plot points were either cut out, or revised for the best visual effect.
We also thought some of the casting choices, and some of the performances, were quite poor. While Hagrid was excellently portrayed, as was Ron, the portrayal of Harry was mediocre. We both thought the actress who played Hermione was trying WAY too hard. As for Dumbledore: Richard Harris may be talented, but he was not well cast in this role. We also thought the way the plot developed significantly underplayed Snape's role, and failed to take advantage of the talented Alan Rickman.
Jesterpee's individual comments: In addition to the plot shortcomings, I thought this movie was another example of action and visual impact over substance. While much of the movie contained very detailed scenery and some beautiful cinematic shots, I felt that certain scenes were unnecessarily prolonged only for the sake of showing off the detailed set and pretty scenery. I also felt that many of the high-speed scenes (e.g., the Quidditch match) relied heavily on obvious computer graphics that were not very convincing.
My wife's individual comments: In addition to our comments above, my wife felt that the plot would be very hard to follow, unless you have already read the books.