Pretty good, somewhat overlong, but fine for what it is.

Rating: Null/10 (15 December 2001)

Reminded me rather strongly of both 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' and 'Oz', apparently does justice to the popular series of books. Now I have not read them-but the material certainly is familiar looking enough. I found this to be, at least as a film:
*too long by about a half-hour or so, it goes on too long. You get to the punchline at the end somewhat later than ya should.
*Pretty well acted-Maggie Smith, Harrison, John Hurt and the rest are pros. I liked the kid actors-Harry, Hermione and Beasley-well enough. Esp 'Hermione', she is quite good. They all give to the roles and film what is needed, nothing more, nothing less.
*The best parts-the Quidditch(think racketball on broomsticks), the broomflying lessons, the attack of the troll, etc-are nicely done, convincing, fun, scary when they need to be, etc. I thought the Quidditch games served the same function as the Speeder Race in 'Phantom Menace'-lotsa action, lotsa 'Ben Hur' stuff,great f/x involving the hero-it does make you stay glued to the screen.
*Some of the stuff was shoe-horned in-esp. the sudden appearences/walk-thrus of John Cleese as a ghost, a Centaur savior(say Wha-?!); they obviously were trying to put in as much of the books as possible-it makes for a fuller 'viewing experience'-but does make you need a scorebook to keep track of who is who.
*the Cerebrus/Fluffy character was great.
*More Hermione.
*Gotta like Robbie Coltrane as the Friendly Giant. He was the best part of the whole show.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!

*I thought that having Quirelle turn out as being the villain was strange. They hadda keep Alan Rickman as the baddie instead. Why the buildup otherwise? Rickman was great. The turbaned guy, not so hot. I wasn't all that impressed by the final confrontation too. Something about a two-faced guy, a mirror and a red rock. Yay. The chessmatch was not bad if somewhat slow moving at times.
Overall this was a fun view, needed some trimming that is all. The lead-Potter-was good, by the way. They coulda used him in 'Phantom Menace'.
*** outta ****, it's certainly worth yer while, whether you have read the book or not is not matter.