Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)

This film has a place in my heart for making this magical world come to life, thanks to the detailed, fluent animations and practical effects, revealing camera pans, and believable structure. Whenever supernatural elements come into play, you really believe they are interacting with the characters and the environment, due to the exhilarating musical accompaniments, which create adrenaline and life to accommodate the brilliantly crafted CGI. Furthermore, the way the camera switches perspectives depending on the scene's nature, add to the immersive atmosphere of the film. Scenes involving a change in location around the castle are aided by the transitioning camera pans between places, which blur the lines between the physical elements of the environment and the computer generated; this makes the setting of the film more believable and alive.

The film's structure helps with the theme of a magical school year, as events take place linearly to a normal school year, making changing interactions between characters easy for the viewer to relate to, as time goes on. The acting in this film is overall solid, as the portrayals and dimensions of the teacher characters are fully fleshed out, at least with the teachers with more dialogue. Characters which are more key to the plot are left undeveloped, detracting from the credibility of their actions, something which becomes formulaic to the rest of the series. Child characters, namely Ron and Hermione, become even more interesting than the protagonist, as there are scenes devoted to their development. Harry however, rarely has a chance to express his emotions, at least not through dialogue, which is a flaw in the writing. This factor carries through the remainder of the films, with Harry's story being revealed to us by other characters, not from Harry himself.

Overall, this film has bewitching design and craft into it, with consistent acting, and a fitting soundtrack. Despite the minor writing flaws, I believe this film holds the test of time, being a very good standalone film, set aside from the others, as the landscape of the world changes over time. I think this is a very good film, not quite deserving of 5 stars.