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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), PG, ★★★1/2


Welcome to my Harry Potter review series as I review or re-review every Harry Potter film in the franchise leading up to the Fantastic Beasts movie in November. So, I'm re-reviewing another series like I did with Star Wars last year. So, the first movie to review is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

A new phenomenon and a new chapter was opening in cinematic history when the first movie in the series was coming out back in 2001. Many children including myself were reading the books before we knew that a movie surrounding the fantasy world in Hogwarts was coming out. When I first read the news on a Harry Potter series franchise being done, I read the books immediately and mostly all of them were page-turners. This movie set up the franchise real well delving into the magical world with enthusiasm and gumption that at times, I forgot I was watching a movie and I thought I was being a participant in the era of Harry Potter. This is a solid opener for the franchise.

You are a wizard, Harry.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is a seemingly normal boy living with his neglectful relatives, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia (Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw), and his cousin, Dudley (Harry Melling). He causes "trouble" as they go to the zoo as the window mysteriously disappears as Dudley was touching the glass as he was making fun of the snake causing the slimy creature to slither away. Afterwards, as Harry is punished, they receive multiple letters from Hogwarts. They move out and a mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), tells Harry that he is a wizard and urges him to enroll to come with him and go to Hogwarts.

After shopping for supplies and Hagrid buying an owl for his 11th birthday, he tells Harry the origin of his scar on his forehead. Harry is famous for surviving an attack against Lord Voldemort who unfortunately kills his parents with a killing curse. After boarding onto the train at platform 9 3/4s, he meets both Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Grainger (Emma Watson). Once they arrive to Hogwarts, Harry and all the other first-year students get sorted into one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and he, Ron and Hermione are sorted into Gryffindor.

At Hogwarts, many things are happening with Harry: he begins learning about wizardry and his parents and his past, he gets recruited for Gryffindor's Quidditch team as a Seeker, as his father was before him and he and his friends discover a three-headed dog guarding a mysterious object called The Sorcerer's Stone. It is an item that can grant a person immortality.



Again, how do you describe this movie? I describe the movie as magical and enchanting. Like I said before, you are welcome into the world of Hogwarts and most of its special effects are great surrounding all the sorcery and spells. Their production design allows you to be spellbound and take it all in: Hogwarts, Ollivander's, Diagon Alley and Gringotts.



However, it is also the main weakness. Its stronger elements allows you to be so mesmerized about the visuals that most of the film, especially the first hour, is a buildup to the story and the Sorcerer's Stone is mentioned about halfway through the film. The movie is basically an introduction to the world and the characters but it is mostly an introduction to the visual effects and into the world. But, I cannot mark it off entirely because the story is actually emotionally involving as Harry finds more about his parents especially in a scene where he sees them in a mirror. Also, the climax between Harry and Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart) is riveting. But, also, the chess scene which is my favorite scene in the movie is awesome and entertaining.

I can't describe the entire cast's performance because there are so many that are perfectly cast. But, the movie is really in touch with Radcliffe's, Grint's and Watson's performance and they have great chemistry as the three main characters and you want to follow them on the journey to know what the meaning behind the Sorcerer's Stone is all about. Director Chris Columbus accompanied by John Williams' enchanting score propels the movie to another level of a fantasy film that can provide wonders for its demographic.

***1/2



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