Kids/Family and Action/Adventure.
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Richard Harris, John Cleese.
Director: Chris Columbus.
Producers: David Heyman, Mark Radcliffe.

Director Chris Columbus' interpretation of J.K. Rowling's first book of the child-enchanting series is filled with wonderful, vibrant sets, captivating new worlds and, yes, nearly everything from its pages.

Standing out are know-it-all schoolmate Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), lovable Potter friend Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) and deliciously evil Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) - with Daniel Radcliffe as the titular young spell-caster attending his first year of wizardry school.

More than 100 million copies of these novels now circulate in 47 languages. The movie version of the first book claimed national magazine covers and was backed by an initial marketing campaign pegged at more than $40 million.

Fortunately, all hands involved in the production have faithfully observed the mantra "It's the book, stupid." Taking only a few shortcuts and hewing as close to the spirit of a literary work as any movie can, "Harry Potter" vividly imagines the world of wizards, magic school and mystical creatures found in J.K. Rowling's series of children's adventure books.

Adapted by Steve Kloves and directed by Chris Columbus, the story remains a child's fantasy version of a British boarding school, where young heroes and a spunky heroine battle not only against the forces of evil but, more importantly, study hard enough to continue next year.

The young actors in the major roles all but pop out of Rowling's pages. Radcliffe plays the Oliver Twist-like Harry with an unaffected, intelligent approach that maintains his wide-eyed wonder yet grounds Harry in a realistic sense of loyalty and honor.

Watson nails precocious Hermoine Granger. She makes scholarly ambition and determination admirable virtues, even if these don't always go down well with fellow students. Rupert Grint's Ron Weasley gamely bucks a class system that exists even in a magic school and looks to exploit talents he does possess to maximum effect. As their snotty nemesis Draco Malfoy, Tom Felton is the personification of upper-class insolence.

As your child will be happy to tell you, Harry is an unreasonably well-balanced youngster, considering his miserable upbringing by a bullying family of Muggles - humans with no magical abilities. On his 11th birthday, though, the bespectacled Harry learns that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards. They were killed in a battle with an evil wizard, who was unable to kill Harry as an infant but did leave a lightning scar on his forehead. Now an adolescent, he is invited to attend Hogwarts to fulfill his destiny.

This opens up a parallel universe to Harry where the magical is everyday life. This begins with the school's groundskeeper, Hagrid. Robbie Coltrane plays this hulking gentle giant as a naif, fond of weird creatures and loyal in his heart but forever letting school secrets slip despite the best of intentions.