GOOD FUN!! But is Harry is going to Hell?!

Rating: 7/10 (9 March 2002)

Unlike so many who have posted here, I have not only never read a single Harry Potter book, I have never seen nor touched one, nor barely heard of the children's book character until this film came out. So I am in fine position to evaluate the movie on its own merits without any invidious comparisons to published books and the events therein.
Having gone to the theater on the recommendation of a friend, I had no idea what to expect, or whether, as an adult, I would like it, be bored - or be sickened. I was pleasantly surprised.
It has all the elements children love: empowerment especially over adults; secret passageways; cryptic messages and meanings; camaraderie with close friends (especially as a surrogate family); and the occasional monster. But besides all that, I found it to be enjoyable magical fun, and I too got swept up in the adventure, and in the whimsy of such as a secret street for wizards and magicians.
Of course, the school villains are two-dimensional at best, and we've seen their like going back to "Tom Brown's Schooldays". This is the weakest element of the script.
I do have to wonder about all the wizardry and witchcraft in a world devoid of God resulting in one way tickets to Hell for all of them. But it hardly matters in such a world of the imagination - a place divorced from reality. And thankfully so.