Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneGrowing up can be a scary enough experience for any child; being told that you are the inheritor of a magical legacy could only be an overwhelming experience. But knowing that you belong to a world full of wonder, and that you have the support of friends and mentors, can make the passage all the more rewarding. Although he has not known why he has a special gift, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has been able to exact unusual talents from a young age. It is only when he is invited to attend Hogwarts school for young wizards that he learns just how to apply his aptitude.
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first in an eight-part series of films about the maturation and development of a young boy into a wizard to be reckoned with. Adapted from the novels by J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter films are a world of magic enclosed within our own, with characters who grow and age--more appropriately with regards to the film series, since it is inevitable that the actors do likewise--and become adults in the process, as well as powerful magic users. Directed by Chris Columbus, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone deals with young Harry's introduction into this world, still just a child of eleven, who had until recently been living under the stairs in a broom closet at his aunt and uncle's house. His extended family is a wretched crew of miserable people, who all but abuse Harry, while spoiling their own child rotten. One could read the situation to be that Harry might just as well imagined the whole magical experience of being whisked away by a gentle-hearted, dragon-loving giant named Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) as a means of coping with his sorrowful, Oliver Twist-like existence. But the reality is far more exciting, involving three-headed giant dogs named Fluffy and grandiose games of "wizard's chess". Hagrid allows the magical world concealed (up to this point) from Harry to peel back and be revealed--literally, in the case of the secret London haven for purveyors of the arcane, Diagon Alley, where Harry learns what he will need to prepare for his education, as well as the trust left to him by his late parents. Harry's keen observation also clues him into some of the secrets to come, a conspiracy already brewing at his upcoming destination. Those who aid Harry in his apprenticeship are a collection of venerable--but commanding--figures, cast by equally compelling and famously talented British actors, including Maggie Smith as the firm but fair Professor Minerva McGonagall, John Hurt as the wizened shopkeeper, Mr. Ollivander--whose penchant for matching wands to wizards endows Harry with a rare wand infused with a tail of a phoenix, and Alan Rickman as the intimidating and suspicious Professor Severus Snape. In his first year at Hogwarts, Harry discovers that he has a natural skill for broom-riding, which Professor McGonagall identifies as a talent which will serve him well as a seeker in the school sport of Quidditch, given his aerial finesse and his keen eye. Harry makes friends with good people at Hogwart's, namely the kind but unsure youngest member of the Weasley family, Ron (Rupert Grint), and the highly studious witch, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). He also trades barbs with the arrogant bully he had the gall to reject, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton); from the start, it is clear that Harry's choices of allegiance will direct his destiny.
What Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone does in terms of its tone and the way the young hero finds himself in his strange new surroundings reminds me a lot of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Both Charlie and Harry come from downtrodden, mundane "real world" lives, only to discover a world beyond imagination waiting for them, where they are appreciated and in turn, appreciate the magic. The people who are good are those who embody selflessness and fellowship, where the bad people are mean and cruel, selfish and also cowardly when pressed into danger. When the students are separated into the four "houses", Ron and Hermione are cast into the house of Gryffindor, while Malfoy is put into the nest of vipers that is appropriately named Slytherin. As the Sorting Hat is put upon Harry's head, Harry hopes not to be put into Slytherin, not just due to its reputation for fostering wizards with questionable morality, but more because he wants to stay with the friends he has made--the only ones he has ever had, and the ones he knows are good by instinct alone. Gryffindor is portrayed as a collection of kind and well-meaning wizards who occasionally goof their spells, while Slytherin is portrayed as being cutthroat and thoroughly detestable, in school and especially in their conduct during Quidditch matches, so there should be no mistake who the nice kids are from the mean ones. But the film also exploits this prejudice at times, so that our interpretation of events as seen through Harry and his friends may not always be the way the events truly happened. What makes Harry a good protagonist is that his true nature shows through his hardships. He is grateful when he actually receives Christmas presents, but he is also kind enough to buy snacks for Ron on the train to Hogwarts with the change from purchasing his school supplies. Harry is an introspective young man--but rightly so, having been orphaned at a very young age by "He Who Must Not Be Named", Voldemort (Richard Bremmer)--and finds some comfort staring into a magic mirror, which reveals to the observer that which he most wishes to see: his parents. Professor Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) councils Harry against spending too much time with the mirror, since it speaks not the truth, and can lead one to madness. He rightly indicates that Harry must look forward to succeed, not back. It is not out of cruelty which Dumbledore says this, but out of the firm belief that Harry is a promising young man with a great future; not just because he is the mysterious "boy who survived" the attack which left his parents dead at the hands of Voldemort, but as a boy who is learning his place in the world.
Recommended for: Fans of a fantasy story of wizards and other magical creatures in modern times, an adaptation of a young adult fiction which introduces the now-famous Harry Potter as a representative for children on their adventure through maturity. Children will identify with Harry's troubles; adults should take heed as to how Harry sees his teachers and other figures of authority.
What Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone does in terms of its tone and the way the young hero finds himself in his strange new surroundings reminds me a lot of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Both Charlie and Harry come from downtrodden, mundane "real world" lives, only to discover a world beyond imagination waiting for them, where they are appreciated and in turn, appreciate the magic. The people who are good are those who embody selflessness and fellowship, where the bad people are mean and cruel, selfish and also cowardly when pressed into danger. When the students are separated into the four "houses", Ron and Hermione are cast into the house of Gryffindor, while Malfoy is put into the nest of vipers that is appropriately named Slytherin. As the Sorting Hat is put upon Harry's head, Harry hopes not to be put into Slytherin, not just due to its reputation for fostering wizards with questionable morality, but more because he wants to stay with the friends he has made--the only ones he has ever had, and the ones he knows are good by instinct alone. Gryffindor is portrayed as a collection of kind and well-meaning wizards who occasionally goof their spells, while Slytherin is portrayed as being cutthroat and thoroughly detestable, in school and especially in their conduct during Quidditch matches, so there should be no mistake who the nice kids are from the mean ones. But the film also exploits this prejudice at times, so that our interpretation of events as seen through Harry and his friends may not always be the way the events truly happened. What makes Harry a good protagonist is that his true nature shows through his hardships. He is grateful when he actually receives Christmas presents, but he is also kind enough to buy snacks for Ron on the train to Hogwarts with the change from purchasing his school supplies. Harry is an introspective young man--but rightly so, having been orphaned at a very young age by "He Who Must Not Be Named", Voldemort (Richard Bremmer)--and finds some comfort staring into a magic mirror, which reveals to the observer that which he most wishes to see: his parents. Professor Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) councils Harry against spending too much time with the mirror, since it speaks not the truth, and can lead one to madness. He rightly indicates that Harry must look forward to succeed, not back. It is not out of cruelty which Dumbledore says this, but out of the firm belief that Harry is a promising young man with a great future; not just because he is the mysterious "boy who survived" the attack which left his parents dead at the hands of Voldemort, but as a boy who is learning his place in the world.
Recommended for: Fans of a fantasy story of wizards and other magical creatures in modern times, an adaptation of a young adult fiction which introduces the now-famous Harry Potter as a representative for children on their adventure through maturity. Children will identify with Harry's troubles; adults should take heed as to how Harry sees his teachers and other figures of authority.