Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the Movie

I think I might've been reading (and more to the point, reviewing) way too much fics lately, because I can't even watch something as common as the first Harry Potter movie nowadays without jotting down notes on what to comment! I'm a strange one, ain't I?


Harry Potter and the review from Hell (namely moi)

First, have I ever seen this one before? I'm sure I must've, yet a lot of the less fast-paced parts (or as I like to call them, the 'jog' parts as opposed to a full out run) seemed less than familiar, though I could quote a few of the sentences in the latter part. ("The is no such thing as Good and Evil, merely Power, and those too weak to seek it") Oh well, maybe it's just been a while...
Now, to the actual movie. God they're small here! Even my class doesn't compare, real ickle firsties they are! I can't blame Dumbledore or Molly for wanting to protect Harry, I myself am finding him adorable. Do they come any smaller? Jesus, they look like they'd drown in a bathtub! And they seem especially tiny now that I've been reading almost exclusively sixth or seventh year stories or ones that happen after Hogwarts, you know, where they're actually longer than their broomsticks! Which brings me to my next point: flying. That was so unconvincing! The brooms seemed to just float a bit more than actually being ridden and as I've noticed before, Neville doesn't even pushes off the ground, the broom simply decides to go drifting. None of their movements seem to have any effect on the brooms. It's obvious that they're not as far with computer animation here as they are now. That also shows in the unicorn (way too plump) and also slightly visible in the troll. Not to mention the completely unconvincing moves of Voldemort, both in the forest and by the mirror. He looks more like a Dementor than an actual person the way he 'flies around'! Now, that scene in the Great Hall with Quirrel warning about the troll, that one was fun. "Troll!!!!! In the dungeons!" Pause "Thought you autta know..." *pass out* and then the ensuing chaos. Brilliant! It was almost as entertaining as watching my class scream their heads off at the chain saw. And did you realise the rolls were reversed by the mirror? Now Harry stottered, instead of Quirrel.
Okay, next character: Hermoine! I loved her as usual, even though she's a whole lot more one-sided here. Perfectly obnoxious that girl was, especially at the beginning. She has changed so much during the books, and also during the movies. I can't wait to see her drop some jaws in the fourth movie. In the sixth book and most of the fics, she's the brains, here, she's merely the bookworm and law-abider. Geesh, she looked like she was about to hang herself in her enthousiasm of showing she knew the answers to Snape's questions. That sounded very wrong by the way. *shudders* Yak, HrSS'ers. Now Snape wasn't as scary as I remembered, probably because I'm older now. Filch was good, I loved when he rolled his eyes at Hagrid's antics over Norbert, very in-character!
The Dursleys were the same flat characters they'd always been, just there to torment Harry, cower at the face of magic or be laughed at, but I 'loved' them anyway. Those actors were good, exactly the right image, the same I think JK scetches in the books. Malfoy was of course just as young and little as the 'Golden Trio' and therefore not intimidating at all - okay, not very much - and I like his hair! He is very good for the role too, though I can't help but look down on people who mistake the actor for Draco himself.
Dumbledore was good too. The real friendly grandfather type and not the grey-haired fool that appeared in the third movie; how they could have picked him, I'll never know. That new Dumbledore really looks more like a witch from the Dark Ages than the only wizard Voldemort was ever afraid of. Hagrid was your typical Hagrid: sweet, endearing, accented and as oblivious as ever when it comes to dangerous creatures, I don't think they could've picked a better Hagrid if the real one just magically stepped out of the books. And last but not least: Wood. Oliver's a nice chap and all, but what I really noticed about him was that he looks familiar, he reminds me of someone I once knew, I just don't know who. Art? Jeffrey? Oh well, he peaked my interest. Where did I see that face before?
And now some last comments: I liked the robes, at least this director doesn't let them run around in muggle clothing the whole movie, though I did notice this time that they were wearing normal jeans and jumpers when they went through the hatch. My usual complaint about the 'protection' on the Stone; I mean, come on! For something that's supposed to be nearly unobtainable, three first-years certainly had a lot of difficulty getting to it. The only security I actually approve of is that mirror, that was somewhat genius, yes. For the rest: I love all that music that's filling up every place where in the book JK expresses Harry's feelings, the actors (especially Daniel, Emma and Rupert) looked as if they were tripping over their words almost half of the time - damn English must be a difficult language to pronounce, especially with those small heads! - and what was it with those pointed hats at the end? Yes, witches and wizards are supposed to have pointed hats and I must say McGonagall looks lovely in it, but these unrimmed ones? The students looked absolutely ridiculous in them! The only good thing about them was when Malfoy stumped off his one.
Okay, that's it for now (finally!). I best go get some sleep now, long day again tomorrow. Sorry for disturbing you and annoying you with this long-winded piece!