After reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I thought it would be impossible for a film to capture the magic found in Rawling’s words. After seeing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I realized I was right. It is impossible. But Stone does about as good a job as you can get.

It’s amazing that as fantastic as the world of Harry Potter is, director Chris Columbus has managed to make everything look just as I imagined it. From the characters to Hogwarts Castle to the Quidditch games, everything is meticulously done to recreate Rowlings world as close as possible.

As fun as it is for bringing the book to life, Stone deserves to be considered on its own terms. And it holds up. It’s an adventure that captures the heart as much as the imagination. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliff) is an eleven-year-old orphan boy in modern England, living with his wicked Aunt and Uncle and obnoxious cousin. He soon discovers, however, that he’s actually part of a race of wizards and witches and that there’s a secret unknown world out there that he will become a part of. Not only is he a part of it, but an extremely important part, as he was the one, as an infant, to unwittingly put a stop to Voldemort, the lead villain of the wizard world.

Harry is whisked away to this alternate world and finds himself enrolled in Hogwarts School, which will teach him how to be a wizard and perform magic. There he makes friends with Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and though it be in a world of magic, struggles to keep up in the midst of traditional problems such as bullies, homework, difficult teachers, detention and trouble with friends. It’s all surreal and yet it’s all so real.

But Harry’s troubles extend beyond the usual. Something strange is going on at Hogwarts and it’s up to Harry and his friends to figure it out. If it sounds like a kid’s story, it is. But it never plays down to a children’s level – it stays fairly mature and honest.

Though Stone is certainly to be lauded for its faithfulness to the spirit of the book, it’s also its primary problem. Stone spends a lot of time with plot; trying to get as much of the story in as possible. As much as it had to cut down on the story, I would have liked to see it cut down even more so it more time to spend on themes and characters.

Even still, Harry Potter is successful on its own terms. It tells a story we can enjoy and tells it with all the beauty, magic and wonder that might expect.

Year: