Harry Brings Back the Magic
But Chamber Opens Darker Secrets

Like nearly everyone else in the country, I have read all the Harry Potter series and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment. Last winter's adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was a wonderful reprieve from the agonizing wait for the fifth book. This year it was with eager anticipation (and some trepidation) that I awaited the second film adaptation. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was my least favorite of the four books so far, and I wasn't sure the film would please me either.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe, right) squares off in a wand duel with Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. (Warner Bros., 2002)
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Written by: Steve Kloves, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, and Tom Felton

Rated PG (for scary moments, some creature violence and mild language)
Running time: 161 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.

As Harry prepares to go back to Hogwarts School for his second year of wizard classes, he receives an ominous warning from a house elf who tries to convince him to stay away. His love for Hogwarts is more powerful than his own fears, however, so Harry returns to school. There are new teachers, new problems, and soon a new threat is revealed. Someone has opened the Chamber of Secrets, a place where an evil monster is rumored to dwell. Soon students are frozen like statues by this monster's gaze, and it's up to Harry and Ron to figure out what is happening.

Unlike Sorcerer's Stone, the second film has the advantage of not needing to introduce the premise of Harry's world or the large cast of supporting characters. For fans, the faces of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and company are familiar and welcome. Like Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), most of the characters from the first film reappear in some fashion or another. In addition, the cast is bolstered by the introduction of some new characters, including Jason Isaacs (as Draco's father Lucius Malfoy) and Kenneth Branagh (as the new Dark Arts Defense teacher Gilderoy Lockhart).

It's no surprise that Branagh quickly steals the show. An accomplished Shakespearean actor and director, Branagh easily slips into the roll of Lockhart as an arrogant, self-righteous, pompous fool. Every crocodile smile Branagh gives, every sweeping gesture is too large for life. His presence fills each scene, just as Lockhart's charisma attracts attention. Branagh makes every effort to become the best Lockhart he can be.

The special effects in Chamber of Secrets are no less spectacular than before, but they are dimmed a bit by the fact that we have seen them before. The grand dining hall at Hogwarts seems a little less grand. Diagon Alley is a little less amazing. The Quidditch match is not as breathtaking. This is the problem with sequels. The "magic" (if you'll pardon the term) is hard to create twice.

Chamber of Secrets does have some new tricks up its sleeve, however. In addition to the new monsters, there is the introduction of Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes. Aside from Quidditch, there is also a showdown in the classroom involving a dueling club (with wands, of course).

To its credit, Chamber of Secrets goes a long way to making a simple "whodunnit" story entertaining, but the journey is a dark one. While the monsters in this film are no more realistic than the troll in Sorcerer's Stone, younger children could be frightened by the swarm of huge spiders or by the Basilisk (a giant snake). Parents of small children might wish to consider this before taking their kids.