Flat & Humorless

Rating: 4/10 (20 November 2001)

What could have been the fantasy film of the decade has turned out to be another Hollywood fastbuck disappointment. With so many truly talented fantasy directors out there - Tim Burton, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, heck, even Steven Spielberg - how is it Chris Columbus wound up at the helm? With two and a half hours to play, how did we end up with a movie with absolutely no character development? There is no soul, no wit, just a dry Cliff's Notes version of the book. Columbus and Kloves may have read the book, but they sure didn't get it.
The only thing that stands out about the film is some brilliant casting. Alan Rickman portrays the semi-evil Snape on levels not explored in the books. Pity they gave him nothing to do. The other extremely talented cast members are also wasted, as the director has reduced most of the non-child characters to cameo roles. Maggie Smith would be the quintessential Professor McGonagall if they gave her more than thirty seconds of screen time per scene.
I want my nine bucks back.