Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is rock solid...

Rating: Null/10 (23 November 2001)

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE: A-
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE is a dazzling ride full of fun magic and spellbinding wizardry. It captures the very essence of the book and never sells out.
If case you don't know (and only about three of you don't) HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE is about a young boy named Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). His parents were killed in a "car accident" and he is being brought up by his nasty uncle Vernon Dursley (Richard Griffiths) and wretched aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw). They have a son named Dudley (Harry Melling). As his life progresses he becomes more and more mature for his age. One day, he receives a letter from Hogwarts. After many failed attempts by Vernon to hide the letters, he finally meets Hagrid (perfectly played by Robbie Coltrane). Harry finds out he's a wizard and he's to be trained at Hogwart's School of Wizardry and Witchcraft (or something to that degree).

When he arrives, Harry meets Ron Weasly (Rubert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). They quickly become friends. At Hogwarts there's the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris), Professor/Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith), Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart), Professor Flitwick (Warwick Davis), and the mean Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman). I'll stop there because either you know the rest or you have to see it to enjoy it.
I admit, when word of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE first came out I thought "Oh, no. A Harry Potter movie?" I thought that it was the most overrated piece of rubbish of the nineties. But as release date neared I got sucked in. I read the book and thought it was great. I then saw the movie and thought it was great. I'm not going to sit here and give it any more hype, God knows it has enough of that.
The casting is one of the major stong points in the movie. If it didn't have the right cast, everything could have gone to hell. Daniel Radcliffe fits Harry for about the first two thirds of the movie, then his voice changes and everything is ruined. But he does just fine and has a good career ahead of him. I especially liked Ron. Grint was perfect for the role because he had the personality of Ron. Hermione is played perfectly by Watson. The best casting choice, though is Alan Rickman as Snape. He plays him just on the borderline of snapping. He is creepy and intriguing, mystifying and scary.

The plot is an original one and I'm happy that the writers stuck to the book.They kept what needed to be kept and discarded what was good material in the book, but what wouldn't work in the movie. The special effects are fun and dreamlike which adds to the movie because that's what the movie really is, a dream, a fantasy.
HARRY POTTER AND SORCERER'S STONE is loyal to the book, won't disappoint fans, create new fans, is entertaining, has charm, wit, and excitement. Nothing more needs to be said.