Film Review: Harry Potter "The Philosopher's Stone"

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this film, please go and do so before proceeding.

         So apparently in America they changed the title to The Sorcerer's Stone because they figured that kids weren't smart enough to know what a philosopher's stone is? Pshaw! They did realize that the kids of the mind to pick up a fantasy story like Harry Potter in the first place (before it became the phenomena that it is today, that is) would probably be up on their folklore and mythology? Besides...Hermione EXPLAINS it in laymen's terms for Harry and Ron. How hard is that?!

        Anyway, rant over. This film, the first in the Harry Potter franchise, can be summed up in one sentence: "Darn it all, Hagrid!" 

      Yes, our poor gentle giant is the culprit (actually more like catalyst) in this whole affair. One really must wonder WHY Dumbledore constantly seems to believe Hagrid is capable of more responsibility than he really should be? Much as I love Hagrid, you've gotta admit that the guy's not exactly subtle. He wasn't sorted into Slytherin or Ravenclaw for a reason...  

            I'll confess that I'm usually not a fan of these type of stories. It's a sad fact that the fantasy/sci-fi genre is OVERRUN with stories about prophecies and chosen saviors and lonely children who find out they're some kind of prodigy/messiah...and I'm sick of it. There's just too many of them. So why does Harry Potter work where Eragon and so many others failed?

        Well...what kid hasn't dreamed about being whisked off to a magical school of some kind at some point during their childhood? Goodness knows I spent a fair amount of time checking the back of closets for Narnia (just...y'know...on the off chance I may get lucky one day) and we all really are looking for that bit of escapism, even at a young age. The Harry Potter books gave us that - hooking us in with promises of magical sweets and fantastical adventures away from the hum-drum existence of life...but in a semi-realistic way because the characters are not perfect and noble and awesome all the times. They're just people, like you and I. Through Harry and Ron and Hermione, we got to live out our dreams. We found friendship, loyalty, bravery, and courage between the pages of those books and were drawn back time and time again by the imagination and heart of the world they had created.

      But what about the films? We know that things are always lost in the book-to-movie adaptation process (it's inevitable...changes WILL be made), so did the films manage to still capture the same charm and magic (haha) that cast a spell over us (haha again) whenever we read the books? Well...let's see.



Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- I have to say that the opening scene to this film, cool as it is, always bothered me. It bothered me in the books too, but especially here: WHY WOULD TWO TEACHERS LEAVE A BABY ON A DOORSTEP WITHOUT EVEN RINGING THE DOORBELL?!?!?! First of off, this is around Halloween. That means it gets COLD at night. Secondly, wards don't protect against uncanny muggles. Thirdly, you can apparate away if you're so worried about Petunia turning you down. Ring the door bell and then get out of dodge...but do SOMETHING!

- Dumbledore is really lucky Molly Weasley never found out about that...

- Whenever Harry wakes up in the cupboard under the stairs, very quickly the first thing you'll probably notice is that his eyes are very much closer to blue than green. Well...there's a reason for that. And it's much more simple than you're probably thinking. Apparently they DID try to give Daniel Radcliffe green contacts, but he had such a bad allergic reaction to them that they gave up. Or that's how the story goes.

- Poor guy.

- I also want to know how the Dursleys never got busted for their treatment of their nephew. Shouldn't have there been some sort of paperwork they had to fill out as his guardians? Or what about his teachers at school? Surely everyone can't be as blind as the neighbors!


- I love the scene where Harry has a genial conversation with a snake and doesn't even think twice about it. The fact that, in the film, Dudley gets trapped INSIDE the glass only makes it all the funnier.

- And I'm going to mention what I'm sure every fanboy, fangirl, and individual with a brain has asked since this film first aired: WHY DIDN'T HARRY JUST PICK A LETTER OFF OF THE GROUND? Seriously! It looks like it snowed in there! He could have snatched up a letter and ran and had it read before Vernon ever disentangled himself from his armchair. I guess this is why he wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw...

- Hagrid's entrance is, as always, excellent. Robbie Coltrane is perfect in the role and really manages to bring across both the roughness and the heart that makes Hagrid work. I've always privately wondered how he made it over to that island in the first place. Did he enchant his umbrella with a Mary Poppins spell or something? (Now THERE would be a sight!)

- Now it's obvious in this film that Daniel Radcliffe and the other child actors are very young and inexperienced. There's always a danger in a film that requires a young protagonist in that it is EXTREMELY hard to find someone who looks right for the part, is available, and can actually act. The Narnia films sort of got around this by casting actors much older than the parts, but with Harry Potter you really can't do that because of all the years they have to go through. So pretty much everyone in the student population was cast according to proper age. Now considering all that (and taking into account the little issue of wanting them to look like their book descriptions) can we just kneel down and praise the casting director and Chris Columbus for both choosing the proper kids and directing them so that their performances shine? Oh sure credit needs to go to Dan, Rupert, and Emma...but the director has a big part in the performance of an actor as they are DIRECTING what they want to see on screen. That's right. As an actor you don't get to make all of your own choices. You listen to your director. (That's why an actor can be wonderful in a film with a great director and then terrible in one with someone sub-par behind the helm.)

- Harry re-entry to the wizarding world is both comical and sad. In fact...it goes something like this:

- I've always said that there is a reason that Harry Potter manages to pull off the old cliché of a chosen one SO much better than Eregon or Snow White & The Huntsman. And it starts right whenever Harry walks in to the Leaky Cauldron and is basically accosted by everybody. He's a celebrity. And he has to go through all of the awful, messy, dirty things that come with it...paparazzi and all. No noble suffering seen there. Being the Chosen One starts off fun and exciting for this kid who has grown up with the equivalent of three Evil Stepmothers from Cinderella, but over time it develops into something far harder. OF course, Ollivander doesn't help matters either, what with his talk of wands and destinies and all that. (Excellent performance by John Hurt, by the way.) And it seems like only the goblins are unimpressed with Mr. Harry Potter coming back at long last.

- Hagrid drops Harry off at King's Cross and then promptly disappears. (Can Hagrid apparate?) And then we get to meet my favorite clan of red-headed wizards, the Weasleys.

- Yes I love the Weasleys, but more so even than that I love watching their introduction in this film. Some of them (like Molly and Ginny) are only on screen for a couple minutes at most and only have a couple of lines...but from just that short amount of time we already have their characters pretty well established. Molly is the matron of the family and is always worried about her children. Fred and George are the jokers, playing pranks and cracking puns. Ginny is rather quiet and shy, but is kind enough and polite. And Ron doesn't quite know what to do with himself, but has a friendly smile. Now all these things will be expanded on over the course of the films...but they got a good, solid foundation here.

- The first meeting between Ron and Hermione makes me laugh every time, even as the meeting between Ron and Harry makes me grin. I love their friendship!

- And, of course, a shout-out needs to go to Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. Lots of people say that he didn't really come into his own until HBP, but I find him a lot of fun in these earlier installments as well. It's not easy to play the black-and-white stereotypical bully kid without it becoming old or obnoxious to the point where he's unbearable. (By that I mean nobody can like you even in a 'love to hate' kind of way.) I legitimately adore Malfoy in these early films. He's just so cute and bratty and fun to watch!

- The Sorting Hat is a cool idea (sociological implications of sorting 11-year-old children according to personality traits aside) but it always kind of makes me itch. Literally. School Hygiene 101: don't EVER share a piece of headgear between kids without washing and sanitizing it in-between. That's how head lice get spread around. And somehow I don't think The Sorting Hat would take kindly to being stuck in a wash-machine with boiling hot water and detergent. Ewww.

- I am forever crushed that they didn't let the Hat sing either because that was a lovely bit of exposition and foreshadowing. Maybe it was cut for time?

- Hermione is my hero. She is a bookish nerd who isn't afraid to speak her mind and who well and truly is awesome. I appreciate very much the way that these early films aren't afraid to make her awkward and weird and even a bit unlikable at times. Makes her character more three-dimensional. Same with the boys. None of them are saints...they're children, and they act like it.

- Isn't a Cerebus technically a hellhound? And wasn't there only one of them in the mythology? The one Hercules captured at the gates of Hades? Hmmm...

- I love the fact that Molly Weasley, just from seeing Harry at the station and whatever Ron or the other brothers has offhandedly mentioned in letters, decided to knit him a jumper and send some fudge for him...just because he looked lonely and because he was Ron's friend. Mrs. Weasley, I don't always agree with you, but wow are you an awesome person!

- I do find it a little bit weird that Dumbledore gave Harry the cloak and set up the mirror so that he would find it and be prepared for going after the stone. I don't quite think that Dumbledore is the evil megalomaniac that a lot of people have made him out to be, but I don't exactly have warm fuzzy feelings towards him as to his treatment of Harry (and the rest of his students) either.

- The Quidditch game is definitely one of the most fun parts of the film. It's high-paced and energetic and just a joy to watch (especially since we got to see Ron's concern for Harry and Hermione's resourcefulness showcased). I do, however, think that Harry surfing on his broom was a bit much. No wonder Snape thought him a show-off! That move LITERALLY had no other purpose but to show off. This is probably why he didn't do it in the books.

- It is fascinating the way that Harry's life is set up in this franchise. His life with his prejudiced and close-minded relations is miserable. Then he is accepted into this magical world of whimsy and magic where he is a celebrity. It all looks like it's going to be Butterbeer and Crumpets from here on out, but the stories have a dark underlying current to them. Harry finds out that the adults in the magical world are not necessarily more perfect than the muggle ones. He finds out that prejudice still exists. He finds out that there is evil in the world...true evil that everyone should fear and fight against. It's almost like the message of even these early stories is that wrong is everywhere and that it doesn't matter who your parents were or how talented you are, you WILL experience trials and places in your life were you'll have to choose whether to do the right thing or to do the easy thing. Depressing, yes, but very much true of the real world.

- The themes of prejudice don't really come in much until the real politics of the magical world get started a few stories later, but here we can clearly see the seeds being sown. Snape has an instant prejudice towards Harry that will affect the rest of their relationship. Harry and Ron have a prejudice against Hermione, only to find that they hurt her and that their earlier cruelness nearly got her killed. The magical world in general treats Harry like some kind of messiah, but he's just a kid who will very soon crumble under that same praise at it turns to pressure. Nothing in life is perfect. There is no utopia on earth, at least not as long as humans with their flaws exist. Harry finds that the magical world isn't such an escape after all. Prejudice, hatred, and evil come in many forms...in a new environment they just don a slightly different disguise.

- And for everyone claiming that they should have gone to a professor with their concerns about Snape...they did. Here in this film the trio's notorious mistrust of adult interference is set up. Professor McGonagall doesn't believe them and, instead of explaining things to them, shuts them out...doubtlessly in an attempt to protect them. Miscommunication occurs and we never really see them go to a professor or adult again, except in a last-ditch effort. Oh my. There is SO much foreshadowing in this first installment!

- Harry and Ron and Hermione are presented with a choice in the story. They could just ignore what they think they know and go peacefully to bed. But they just can't. They are afraid and unsure and on the wrong foot, but they know that someone has to do SOMETHING!

- Can we take a moment to give a shout-out to Neville here? The focus of the story is on the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione...but Neville really deserves a lot of credit. He's a chubby, slightly awkward, and shy young man who is bullied by almost everyone in the school and who is so desperate not to make his Gran (and parents) disappointed in him that he overcompensates and ends up making everything work. Ron has a speech to him where he tells Neville to stop letting people walk over him because they'll never stop and Neville takes that advice to heart, even going so far as to stand up to the trio for doing something he thinks is wrong. It's been said that it takes twice as much courage to stand up for a friend than it does to an enemy and, given that the trio are basically his ONLY friends at this point, I'd say that we deserve to give Neville a big round of applause.

- I am slightly disappointed in this film for taking Ron's lines about the Devil's Snare and giving them to Hermione instead of letting her have her freak-out moment that he saves her from...but given that Snape's Trial was also cut, I think we can forgive her. After all...Ron got the chess game.

- I love that little swallow Ron gives after he says that. He knows that this is a dangerous game...he's not stupid or glory-seeking at this point. He knows he is playing for his friends' lives as well as for their mission. I think he also has a bit of an idea of the very real fact that one of them may have to sacrifice themselves to win the game. But he still does what needs to be done! I don't normally cry during movies, but I'll admit that I get a lump in my throat every time Ron sacrifices himself so that Harry can checkmate the queen.

- "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!" Thank you, Hermione. That statement right there is why Harry Potter is not just some silly little story about magic. The setting is a magical school, yes, but the focus is never put on that. Instead the story is about love, friendship, loyalty, betrayal, prejudice, anger, sacrifice, and all of the GOOD STUFF that we find in the stories that are really great. It teaches you to not just believe whatever you are told, but to go out and seek the truth for yourself. It teaches that breaking the rules isn't right and that there are consequences, but also that adults aren't always perfect either. It provides a balanced view of the world, around the frame of fantasy, to teach valuable life lessons and to encourage you to always do the right thing, even when those around you are not.

- The fact that Dumbledore waited until the feast, cruelly let the 'bad' Slytherins believe that they had won, before awarding Harry and Co. for breaking the rules right in front of everyone only cements my feelings that he wasn't a particularly unbiased Headmaster. Just how many of those Slytherins would have gone wrong if they hadn't been mistreated all throughout their school days? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

           This first film in the Harry Potter franchise is just a joy to watch. It carries a lot more innocence than the later installments of the series, but a lot of foreshadowing and set-up for those darker times also happens here. We're introduced to Voldemort, Harry gains friends and learns that no matter which world you're in there will always be evil to fight against, and we get some great character development and performances from the cast. The special effects have held up extraordinarily well and the score gives me chills every time I see it. The Philosopher's Stone is definitely an experience that everyone should have at some point in their life. If you're worried about kids getting the wrong idea from it, fair enough, but discuss it with them or wait until they're older before introducing them to it. It teaches some important lessons and is a lot of fun. I give it a 5/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?