Analysis
I new that this film was going to be a typical good over evil children's film. I was familiar with the books and was very curious to see how it would adapt to film. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is just the start of Harrys journey with him realising his true potential by having his past revealed to him throughout the first hour of the film. As soon as Hagrid enters the movie we are transported away from the mundane everyday life, to the realms of fantasy. Robbie Coltrane was without a doubt my favorite character in the movie with his portrayal of Hagrid. You will spot many other famous people popping up throughout the movie too. As Harry follows his path to greater knowledge, the audience is presented with several amazing, large-scale film sets that were just magical. Great detail and time had been spent on the creation of the sets and they were all full of busy extras of all shapes and sizes made up as magical characters. For example the hidden cobbled shopping street was particularly busy, the forest, the chessboard, and the school with its moving stairways with the mysterious pictures on the walls.

Unlike films such as Gladiator or Lord of The Rings, which both incorporate massive sets seamlessly with computer generated backdrops and foreground extras, I felt that Harry Potter had been rushed in this department and it was clear to see what was pasted in afterwards. The same criticism can also be leveled at some of the action sequences such as the Troll attack and the Quidditch match. The Quidditch arena was clearly computer generated, when Harry Potter was flying around on his broomstick it was clear that it was animated. To be honest the animation was poor in my opinion and you felt that you were watching a movie that had animation interludes. It did seem a shame that this was the case as it is clearly shown in other films that the technology is available.

The story did flow well, but it did nothing other than mildly entertain me. I must admit I looked at my watch towards the end just to see how much longer. Not a good sign. Don't get me wrong though it is worth seeing .

Key Area	Rating (out of 5)	Comment
Action		An average amount of action.
Thrills/ Tension		No real tension as it's aimed at all ages. You know Harry Potter is going to be the hero and win in the end.
Violence/ Gore		Very minor violence and very little gore.
Bare Flesh	NONE	Family fantasy film so don't expect skin.
Plot		Straight from J K Rowling's imagination.

Verdict The hype behind this film was unreal. Everywhere you looked, in the newspaper, a passing bus, the TV or even your box of cereals at the breakfast table, you could not help but notice that Harry Potter had been made into a movie. The revenue from this films merchandise alone is going to be unimaginable. I went with the hype and watched it. It was a long film which the kids loved and so did some of the adults, appealing to all ages. A very well mapped out story which followed JK Rowling's novel very closely. For me, the running time was a bit too long for a children's movie. Overall I thought the film was just 'Ok' with no real passion in favor or against it. I will follow the hoards to see the next one no doubt.

Fun, but not worth the hype.