A Wonderful Beginning to the Magic

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2013)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is simply magical. It is greatly acted and the sets are amazing! Daniel Radcliffe as the title role of Harry Potter is clearly nervous but pulls the part off very well. Rupert Grint as his friend Ron Weasley delivers his lines brilliantly and is a superb comedy role. Emma Watson as geek Hermione Granger steals the film, her fantastic acting and attitude is outstanding and you really can sympathise with her.
Other great cast members include Richard Harris as powerful Headmaster Professor Dumbledore, Maggie Smith as the strict Professor McGonagall and the always-brilliant Alan Rickman as the villainous Professor Snape.
The action scenes are very gripping. The troll scene in the Girls Bathroom is outstanding, the CGI perfect. The final scene with Professor Quirrell, played well by Ian Hart, is also very brilliantly done.
The Hogwarts Castle is almost exactly how I imagined it when I read the book, but it is Diagon Alley that is the best set I have ever seen. It is truly magical.
The only bad point about this film is that the Dursleys barely have a look in. The exquisite acting talents of Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw and Harry Melling needed more screen time. However, that is my only criticism.
Overall, this movie sets the standard highly for all of the other films to come.