Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

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It’s been fourteen years since the first Harry Potter movie was released in theaters. I got the chance to see it in theaters again, which was awesome. For the most part, Sorcerer’s Stone does a really good job of following the book. Some of the changes that were made don’t really bother me that much. The actors were all good in my opinion. Alan Rickman was handpicked by author J.K. Rowling to play Snape, and I don’t think a better choice could have been made. The acting, writing, and directing were fantastic. The unfortunate thing about the movie is that a lot of the visual effects haven’t held up too well for me. I could almost always tell when they used a CG version of Daniel Radcliffe. The green screen was pretty noticeable, and some of the creatures don’t look as good as they used to. Looking at the movie now, the fact that the special effects didn’t really hold up unfortunately does take it down a notch for me. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the movie. I do. In every other way, it has help remarkably well. It’s still a fun fantasy movie that deserves classic status. 

9 / 10