Fabulous Cinematography, Well Done (vague spoiler at end?)

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2001)

The cinematography was *amazing* and I'm not usually one to comment on it. The costuming, sets, and make-up were phenomenal as well. The snake scene, Quidditch, chess scenes, and moving portraits were just awesome (watch the pictures in the background during the infirmary scene!)
Walking away from the movie, my favorites were actually different than the book. In the book, I liked Hermione. In the movie, I wanted to bat her senseless with a nerf bat for the overkill attitude. However, that could be due to either the lines, or Emma Watson's lack of acting background (which was extremely obvious in that she sometimes had to pause to remember a line, looked a bit startled when it came to her turn, and was a bit forced). She didn't quite look like what I thought, nor did Dumbledore.
I *LOVED* the characters of Ron, Madame Hooch, and Hagrid (Hagrid I liked in the book as well). Rupert Grint did an absolutely phenomenal job with the character of Ron, and was an incredible asset to the movie! Madame Hooch just looked very cool, much spiffier than I thought. Robbie Coltrane did a fantastic job as Hagrid as well, with a running comment that always evoked laughs from the audience. Rickman as Snape and Maggie Smith as McGonagal was pure genius! They were the epitome of the characters... Rickman playing Snape even better than I'd imagined the character!!
The only down side to the movie is that one section of the climax was dropped so it didn't make sense considering the alluding to a teacher's (Snape) help throughout the movie. And, even though I'd read the books, I felt like I missed something with how it jumped from the chess scene to the mirror. The good aspects far outweighed the bad, however!