One of the Most Magical Films of the Twenty-First Century

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2016)

I love this film. Yes, nostalgia has a lot to do with my love, but I don't care. This film came out when I was seven years old and I was in first grade. My mother and father took me to our local movie theater to see it. Harry Potter book mania was in full swing and the phenomenon with the wonderful film series was about to explode with joy. Re- watching the films in order now I can look back on this film with a certain point of view. The first three H.P. films feel like stand alone stories and for the most part set up about 70% of the saga. Now that's was "Sorcerer's Stone is" a wonderful world building movie that keeps getting built upon with each new film.
The greatness of "Sorcerer's Stone" are that it get's everything right 100%. For an adaptation, it follows the book faithfully. Granted there are elements and chapters omitted, but that's the adaptation process. The cast of youthful and seasoned actors are wonderful. Everyone is cast perfectly and each movies the actors grow into their parts with ease and perfection. The Cinematography is colorful and dark, the musical score by the ingenious John Williams is beautiful and magical, the direction by Chris Columbus is sharp as well.
Even though this film is not perfect, no movie really is anyway, I love it. Any criticisms I have with the film generally go with the whole series. Some films do go on too long.The pace in this particular film can drag on. The plot does have an Indiana Jones vibe where it is one even after the other. Some films in the series are plot driven like "Chamber of Secrets" and "Goblet of Fire" and some are character driven like "Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Half-Blood Prince". "Sorcerer's Stone" "Order of the Phoenix" and "Deathly Hallows" are a combination of both character development and plot development. There really is not much for me to nit-pick about this film. It's easy for people to complain about the special effects, but for the film that was establishing the series, the computer generated effects are fine. In my opinion, the whole film series have special effects that range from wonderful to mediocre. But that's just time catching up to the movies.
Overall, this film is wonderful. It's a happy origin tale about the boy who lived and it's full of action, humor, danger, wonder, magic, and most importantly, heart. Fifteen years after its release, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is a golden fantasy-family film classic.