An average start

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2011)

I've read all the Harry Potter books and of course I had high expectations with the movie. I'm not disappointed.
To be candid, the movie is no competition for the magical book but it follows the book closely enough. I'm just surprised that even though everything is adapted accurately, the film manages to be colossally dull while the novel was highly interesting. Upon musing about this, I realized that it's primely the cause of the outdated visual effects. Other than that, the magical world is depicted as if the setting is that of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. A little modern look could've helped a lot.
The acting - like the movie - is strictly average. The kids seem a little too childish and the background score sometimes feel over the top; I loved Hedwig's theme though. The direction is to be blamed for the lack or rather incompetence of the correct emphasis on certain scenes. Some irrelevant scenes feel the same as the climax, there is nothing to differentiate. Harry's Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his bully cousin are presented more as cartoon characters which makes the watcher refrain from taking the movie seriously. Therefore, it's supposedly viewed as a children's movie with little or no entertainment and a dull setting.
The only thing worth watching is the unfolding of the manner in which the magical world works, since this is the first installment.
I hope the sequels are going to improve and provide justice to J.K. Rowling's phenomenal series.