True to the book

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2006)

I remember first seeing this in an awesome movie theatre... the first day the movie came out, November, 2001. My sister and I were jumping up and down, dying to see it... we were both about 11...
And, I was impressed. But I look at the movie now, and I must say, although there are a number of flaws, the movie adaptation of the novel brings out the true spirit of Harry Potter that JK Rowling intended.
The movie basically walked off the pages for me, and every character was as I pictured them to be. First things first- the acting. Richard Harris was, and still remains to this day, the greatest Dumbledore I have ever seen. Micheal Gambton, although good, cannot match the perfection that Richard Harris achieved when he played his character as Dumbledore.
Daniel Radcliffe, although new to movies, still did an excellent job, and played his part well. Indeed, his character really was what I visualized. All the way down from how he talks to how he walks, still gets me as to how good of an actor Daniel Radcliffe is.
Emma Watson, my personal favorite actress up to date, definitely perfected her character as Hermione. Bossy, know it all Hermione... and she did an amazing job at it... I love the line, "I'm going to bed before you two get us killed, or worse- expelled."
Rupert Grint was EXACTLY how I imagined him to be, and he also played his part very well, I really believed he was the poor, red-haired Ron Weasley from the novel!
Tom Felton, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane (awsome Hagrid) and the rest of the cast all did and excellent job of what they did.
Although I really wanted to see Peeves the Poltergeist and Professor Binns, Chris Columbus made the movie worthwhile, and I congratulate him on his work.
The only cons I can think of right at the moment is how McGonnagal really didn't seem upset at the beginning when she learned of the Potter parents being murdered. And, perhaps, how Malfoy wasn't shown as the cruel rich, snobby boy that the book portrayed him as.
Other than that though, Chris Columbus stuck to the book and because of that, the Harry Potter series has received more praise than any other book- movie series... besides, perhaps Lord of the Rings.
Well done,
and I would recommend this movie to anyone.