Many reviews and significant commercial expectation accompanies this film, and it does not disappoint. The actors are either brilliant veterans or have apparently had a good deal of coaching, the effects are no less spectacular than modern Hollywood demands, the film is true to the book and remarkably complete. The whomping willow and Aragog are well done. Kay liked HPII better than HPI, I liked the first more. I score it 9/10.
Why not 10/10?
There are minor shortfalls.
As one reviewer hinted in Newsweek, there is little room for character
development, in spite of a nearly three hours of material... there is
just so much plot to get through. The quidditch match has a spectacular
chase scene (replacing team interactions in the book),
but not much actual game play, so apart from Harry and
Draco there is not much quidditch-team action at all. I would have liked
another 15 minutes spent with Harry relating to his peers. There
was no room for silly things like Seamus trying to turn water
into wine, material that added something to the first film.
In material that accompanied the DVD of the first film
the director showed scenes that had been cut---comedic reliefs---such
as Seamus responding to his series of chem-lab-like accidents.
This film needed more of those.
The same commentaries touted the introduction of new characters
like Gilderoy Lockhart and Madam Pomfrey. The former is a "simple"
character to portray (shallow) and about the second we end up knowing
not much at all.
There is room for an extended version DVD, as in the case of LOTR.
I liked the mellowing of Snape in the films compared to the books; the view we have of him, especially after book IV, is inconsistent with a biassed, vindictive source of evil, though that view is what many a schoolboy has of an unpopular teacher.
The final scene contains some aspects absent from the book. Hagrid's return recieves a standing ovation---I liked this touch for lifting the mood, but Hagrid, if you stop to think about it, is not well known to most pupils until book three. Also there is clear evidence of a growing love interest between Hermione and Ron. Ron of the films is less of a spotty kid than the Ron of the books, plus the actor's voice is breaking, so perhaps appropriate.