Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the multi-award winning fantasy novel by J.K Rowling, is casting its spell on young and old across Northern Ireland. Children's Express reporters went along to see if the film would live up to expectations.
For those who don't know, Harry Potter is an 11-year-old boy who lives a horrible life with his aunt and uncle, until one day he finds out he's actually a wizard.
The film follows Harry as he embarks on his first year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
"The strength of the film is it's storyline," said Mark Luney (14). Penned by the now incredibly rich and famous J K Rowling the story gives the actors great artistic license to get into their roles.
"The actors work really hard to make you believe in the fantasy. Robbie Coltrane is perfectly cast as the half-giant Hagrid but it's Alan Rickman who really shines as the evil Professor Snape," Mark said.
"I was pretty pleased with all the characters, they looked like I'd imagined. The movie confirmed the images I had in my head and filled in the blanks," Orlaith Graham Wood said.
Mark and Orlaith have read all the Potter books and had been anticipating the release of the movie for weeks.
"For a film that was two and a half hours long, the scenes moved really quickly, you didn't even notice the time go by," Orlaith said.
Mark was not as impressed: "I think the film will be big because of the book, but I don't think it is a blockbuster."
The film was rated PG but Andrew Bailie thought this may have been a little young due to some frightening scenes.
"The film was excellent but there were some parts that made me think it should have been classified as an over 12 movie," he said.
The quality of the film versus the quality of the book was always going to be an issue. Orlaith and Mark both thought JK Rowling's writing held more passion than could ever be expressed in a film.
"Ms Rowling put so much more excitement in her words. Even with all the special effects the movie couldn't live up to the book in that department," said Mark.
Now the hype has died down and all the Harry Potter fanatics have been satisfied we want to know when is the next book coming out Ms Rowling.
About the team
This article was produced by Andrew Bailie (13), Mark Luney (14), Michael Leathem (15), and Orlaith Graham Wood (13). It was published in the Irish News.
