Incredible, as long as you've read the book...

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2001)

After many years spent directing mediocre/awful films, Chris Columbus has finally found his fated place in cinema. "Harry Potter..." (thankfully) bears little resemblance to Home Alone but is far more reminiscent of the wonderful mid-80s years when Columbus was writing the likes of "The Goonies", "Gremlins" and "Young Sherlock Holmes" while Spielberg produced them. Like these older films, "Harry Potter..." isn't condescending to the younger audience both in its material (scary moments and violence) and its length.
Columbus and Kloves clearly made the (correct) assumption that most children who see the film will have read the book. With that in mind, they manage to cover a huge amount in the 2 1/2 hours that could well leave new-comers in the dark. Even at this length, however, there is still a good deal missing from the film, most noticeably Peeves the Poltergeist who was cut out at the last minute. Personally, I feel that the film could have spent a further 10 or 15 minutes showing more of the everyday life of Hogwarts covering more lesson time thus allowing for more animosity to develop between Malfoy and Harry, and between Ron and Hermione before the troll incident. With any luck, the DVD might provide us with some of the missing material.
Overall, the film has shown the potential for an incredible series which, at least for the younger viewers of today, could certainly rival the Star Wars series. Indeed 2002 is set to stage an epic battle of sequels - Star Wars II Vs Harry Potter 2 (as well as Lord of the Rings 2). Judging by the Phantom Menace, "Chamber of Secrets" is looking far more promising than "Attack of the Clones"...