Movie adaptation of glorious magical book.

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2001)

(first part spoiler free)
Having read (and loved) the entire series so far, overall I was very pleased with the first movie result. For the first two thirds of the movie, I found myself grinning like a madman. My only complaint was that some of the visual effects were lacking, primarily when they attempted to render human actions and movements totally in CG. They did a good job, in the first 2/3 of the movie, of capturing the majority of the book, although non-readers will likely be confused with some of the story elements. At the 2/3 mark, however, it seems as though they just plain *ran out of time* and started compressing bigger chunks of the story into neatly tied-up packages. This was a bit disturbing, as well a good chunk that was removed from the end of the story. The climax in general feels oddly placed, as well. These elements detracted somewhat from the movie, but not enough for me to dislike it. It is still wonderfully done and really captures the essence of the book. I am more concerned with how that future movies will turn out, as their stories are more complex and conform less to removal of plot elements.
(spoilers below)
My primary complaints are the lack of Norbert as a running story (he's quickly dealt with in literally 5 minutes)and the deletion of the final potions room in the end. I realize that things must have been removed, but by this point in the movie, it just felt rushed. Quiddich is generally well done, but much of it is CG and looks flat out cartoony at times.