What a Brilliantly Fun Way to Begin a Monumental Franchise

Rating: 8/10 (26 October 2016)

If for nothing else, the Harry Potter films always find a way to give me a great sense of nostalgia. I, like many others, grew up with this franchise. In many ways, this was our generation's Star Wars. It was the 2000's pop culture phenomena. I'm happy to say that the first film, The Sorcerer's Stone, still undoubtedly holds up.
I feel like I should first mention just how impressive it is that Warner Bros and their casting directors found the perfect Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Yes, the rest of the film is also impeccably casted with Maggie Smith, Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, and Tom Felton just to mention a few, but it's the core three characters that carry this franchise. Watching the three of them play off each other so effectively at such a young age is truly awe-inspiring.
Granted, heroes are only as good as their villains, and luckily they have a great one in Lord Voldemort. Even though in Sorcerer's Stone it's hard to really call him in the big-bad, considering he's not resurrected yet, but his presence is definitely felt. With that said, I wish they would have involved Professor Quirrell more in the main plot. He's a sketchy guy, but you never get a real sense that he's working to resurrect Voldemort. In fact, he's barely in the movie, so his presence towards the end is unexpected, but I didn't feel like it was earned.
But the mishandling of the villain doesn't diminish the tremendous amount of fun The Sorcerer's Stone brings to the young franchise. Chris Columbus does a nice job of setting up all the relationships and characters we will come to love later like Hagrid, Dumbledore, and even Snape. This is clearly focused on the trio, but they each get a chance to chew up some scenery with the young wizards. Everything from a clumsy giant, the dark forest, a game of quidditch, to an important game of chess make The Sorcerer's Stone one of the most memorable entries into the Potter franchise.
+The trio are effortlessly cute and entertaining
+Pacing
+All the beloved characters sprinkled in
+Balances a bunch of genres in one
-Villain reveal is iffy
8.4/10