Pic stands on its own - it's not just a filmed book

Rating: Null/10 (10 November 2001)

I haven't read any Harry Potter books, so I wasn't gambling any great expectations, and a lot of the story was new to me. But who cares? The film is dazzling - production design is the best of it. It's guaranteed to outlive the accuracy police who worry that details may be lost in the adaptation.
It is said, in general, that "the book is always better than the film." But when's the last time you heard anyone say that about The Wizard of Oz? The same should be true for HP. So why do we look down on film adaptations as tawdry 'Hollywoodised' versions? If someone wrote a ballet based on the Harry Potter story, it would be senseless to say that it was better than the book. Just my two cents...
(I was trying to think of words to describe how good Alan Rickman is, but I couldn't. However, if you close your eyes and imagine melted dark chocolate being strained through a velvet bag you might get the idea.)