Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Growing up in the nineties, there was one book series that dominated the whole of you childhood. Sure, Roald Dahl and Jaqueline Wilson were always top authors in your world of fantasies and we will always look fondly back on. But when J.K Rowling penned the unlikely Harry Potter as the hero of a wizarding world, the entirety of our lives since Dumbledore arrived on Privet Drive was muggles, Quidditch and spells. Recently, JK Rowling announced that not only is she writing a film based on Magical Beasts and Where To Find Them, it’s going to be a trilogy. Merlin’s beard are we excited!
So with that in mind, let’s fondly look back on the series that made us all believe in magic and kick off with the first ever Harry Potter Movie.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is directed by Chris Colombus. For those living under a rock for the past twenty years, then here is the plot. Harry Potter is an orphan, living with his Aunt and Uncle who hate him. When he starts to receive mail from an unknown school named Hogwarts, he is amazed to find out that he is a wizard and will be attending the school. But wait, there is more, when he was a baby he destroyed Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard, and in the wizard world that makes him a legend. Alongside learning all about being a magical boy, Harry must contend with the fame. All the while, something sinister is happening at Hogwarts.
Why is it Bad?
The series may have launched the acting careers of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint but when they first kicked off the films, they couldn’t string sentences together without people wincing. Compared to the stellar adults who feature around
them (such greats as Maggie Smith, Richard Harris and John Cleese,) the children barely manage to convey emotion and it physically hurts to watch them. While a lot of you are sitting there screaming “no, but they were young, look at their baby faces,” to that I say just look at Quvenzhané Wallis in Beast of The Southern Wild, Natalie Portman in Leon and Onata Aprile in What Maizie Knew. Those are some outstanding performances from child actors of similar and younger age to these three. So yes, children can do it and it makes Philosopher’s Stone extremely annoying.
Why is it Good?
Columbus was famous for bringing the first CGI animated character to life with Young Sherlock Holmes and did the same here. Much before the decline into darkness, Philosopher’s Stone truly felt like the books that we had treasured were bouncing away in front of us. There were even Bertie Botts Every Flavoured bean and you could practically smell the great feast as it came off the screen. You can argue all you want but no one can deny that Columbus set up the rest of the film and breathed life into the land that we have only imagined. That is what make Philosopher’s Stone one of the most intensely incredible children’s movie. Plus Richard Harris? Impeccable Dumbledore.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone made magic feel like magic again. I even remember where I was the first time I watched it (in a cinema that sadly doesn’t exist.) I remember feeling excited and amazed at the creations before me. It made me utterly obsessed with the books and made me want to fly my broomstick into it. I can talk about this movie again and again because there is no way it deserves the amount of stick it gets (I’m fully aware of the stick I just gave it)
So it sticks out like a sore thumb against the rest, big deal?
I can guarantee that you didn’t notice it at first.
TTFN
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