poor editing and pacing make movie magic disappear

Rating: 3/10 (20 November 2001)

As a fan of the Harry Potter books, I went to the movie with great anticipation and expectation. Many of of those expectations were met. The look of the Hogwarts school, the special effects, and the casting of characters are all superb. The children were delightfully genuine, witty and not overly cute.
With such a great look and cast, it is a shame that the movie itself is so extremely boring and poorly paced. The beginning has no grab and the rest of the movie methodically displays scenes straight from the book. Then all of a sudden at the climax of the movie, the movie trades in its slow pace for one that rushes to a completely unsatisfying end. The books have a dark eerie tone to them, and are magical whodunnits with clues dispersed along the way. This movie captured none of this mystery and instead is tame and uninteresting. The two and a half hours (not including the 30 minutes of previews and commercials) soon became agonizing as the appreciation to the special effects wears off.
One can only hope that the next installment of this series will improve as director Columbus has all the elements here for a great movie (a great cast, wonderful plotlines, and a huge budget) if he just had the courage to use them properly.