Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Rating

Director

Chris Columbus

Screenplay

Steve Kloves (Novel: J.K. Rowling)

Length

161 min.

Starring

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, Harry Melling, Toby Jones, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Julie Walters, Bonnie Wright, Mark Williams, Chris Rankin, Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Lewis, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, John Cleese, Shirley Henderson

MPAA Rating

PG (For scary moments, some creature violence and mild language)

Review

It’s another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everyone has returned for the second film in the series Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has spent a rather disastrous summer at home. The Dursleys are as usual aggravating and he can’t wait to return to Hogwarts for another year of magical tutelage. He joins up again with friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) as they move through their second year.

As the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is gone, a new person has taken his place. No, Snape (Alan Rickman) doesn’t get the post. Instead, it’s the gloriously vain Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh). Known all over the wizarding world as a writer of great books and heartthrob to all the ladies, Lockhart cares little for anyone other than himself.

This year, Harry and company are faced with a strange creature loosed in the halls of the school. This creature has the ability to petrify his victims, though any direct visual contact with it could result in death. Harry must uncover the secret behind who opened the Chamber of Secrets and stop the creature from injuring any further students.

Director Chris Columbus is back for its second outing in the boy wizard series. This time, with all exposition behind him, he manages to achieve a more cohesive and interesting film. He still focuses overmuch on the fantasy, out-of-world aspects of the setting but with a stronger literary backing, he manages to create his first high quality entry in the series.

Steve Kloves continues his work as screenwriter and his adaptation of the book is nearly perfect. Certain elements are missing, but what was strongest about the book is captured on the screen. The novel was able to turn every scene and circumstance into a pivotal event for the later chapters. It was the first, and still only, book of the series that managed to tie everything directly into the film’s final scenes. Whereas the first tome focused heavily on expository demands, the second book took off and captured the reader’s imagination. The film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets manages to achieve a similar goal.

The kids are still a bit wet behind the ears, but their performances have improved over the first year. That these children are learning from some of the best actors in the world certainly helps. Even Columbus, who managed to turn Macaulay Culkin into a major star and goad a solid performance out of him, has helped mold them.

Branagh gives the newest performance in the film, playing the only major new character in the franchise. Branagh has had a decent amount of practice with comedy and he turns that talent towards the role of Gilderoy Lockhart with sensational abandon. As over-the-top as you might think his performance is, he matches perfectly the wit and narcissism of his literary comparison.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is an engaging and entertaining return to the world of witches and wizards. We return with great satisfaction and thus anticipation that the third film of the series will be as good as, if not better than, the second.

Review Written

July 21, 2007

Original Review

Note: This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

Literary fantasy “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first in a series of seven books makes a splash on the big screen. The film follows the adventures of a small group of students wizards led by the titular character.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) was born to a wizarding family killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort. The film opens as Harry is delivered to his aunt and uncle’s house to be raised by his nearest living relatives. His life is certainly not what he would like, forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs, taking second hand everything from his fat cousin and never being respected because of his wizarding birth.

When Harry receives a letter from Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, his history is explained. Believing his parents dead in a car accident, Harry takes great offense at his guardians for not being honest with him. He then accompanies half-giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), who finally delivers the letter, to a secret alley in London where he purchases all of his equipment, including a gorgeous snowy owl named Hedwig.

At Hogwart’s, he meets the others of his group: Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), a workaholic with hopes for good grades and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), sixth of his brood, who cares more about playing around than grades.

Among the very talented array of actors are Richard Harris as the stern, yet compassionate headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Dame Maggie Smith as the sterner and less compassionate deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall. Both performers take great relish in bringing their complex characters to the big screen, something the younger actors attempt, but don’t completely succeed at.

Coltrane is equally good as the cantankerous groundskeeper with a penchant for the unusual, but the bulk of the acting requirements fall on the trio of leads, Radcliffe, Watson and Grint. Each one epitomizes their literary counterparts, but all go over the top in their portrayals, something most child performers do, even if led to do so by their director. Watson gives the better performance of the three while Grint gives the worst.

Overall, the acting isn’t as important as the story. While the performers do bring the characters to life with vivid abandon, the story itself is the propelling force of the series. Steve Kloves adapts J.K. Rowling’s masterful story with great adeptness. He takes the most important parts of the book and places them on the screen to behold. Many of the less important features are left in the book. While some manage to make the screen, they are good exposition for later books.

Director Chris Columbus has much experience in adapting children’s tales to the screen. Previously his work on “Home Alone” propelled it into the pantheon of classic kids comedies. Meanwhile, he improves upon himself with the sometimes dark, often exciting world of Harry Potter.

“Harry Potter” wouldn’t be complete without the magnificent artistry put into the art direction and especially the amazing visual effects. Although the wizardly soccer-style game of Quidditch segment is blatantly horrible, the rest of the film looks terrific.

“The Sorcerer’s Stone,” being the first of the series has set a very high goal for the remainder of the films. Having read many of the subsequent books, the biggest challenges lie ahead with the exceptionally challenging “Chamber of Secrets” which will test the inclusion/exclusion boundary of the screenplay. A masterful children’s tale that will please audiences of all ages, “Harry Potter” is a treasure to behold.

Review Written
November 21, 2002