Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone has one advantage over so many other blockbusters: it already knows that it's the first in a series, so it doesn't have to become a self-contained hit movie before its sequels can receive the green light. It soars where The Phantom Menace's podrace stalled on the third lap. The stand-out sequence is the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, a fast-paced medieval Rollerball with broomsticks. John Williams' score swells at the key moments - Here's your first glimpse of Hogwarts! Isn't Diagon Alley crammed with Dickensian detail! - as Columbus pulls back curtain after curtain to reveal all of the avid readers' favourite bits. That's why this faithful adaptation won't fail to win over the book's fans with its 'wow' factor.
And from the very first sight of an owl perched on the Privet Drive road sign to the closing shot of the Hogwarts Express pulling away from the station with the majestic school sitting high on the hills behind, we know that every golden galleon has been well spent.
It's one thing to let your imagination loose with the words on the page it's another to have those images backed up by a multi-million dollar Hollywood budget. With over 100 million Harry Potter readers desperate to rush down cinema aisles to see their hero on the big screen for the first time, you can't blame Chris Columbus for sticking close to J.K. Sometimes the best plan is to do things by the book.
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