Hairee Pautar aur Rahasyamayee Tahakhaana

Having three daughters I have a choice when a great book comes out: buy three of them (EXPENSIVE!!), force someone to wait until the other is done before they can read the book (sure, I enjoy breaking up fights!), or read it to them. I chose to read it to them so we could ALL enjoy it...and we did! Naturally, the kids were excited when the movie came out. However, when I saw the first Harry Potter, I was terrified it was going to be "butchered" like most "books to movies" are; but was pleasantly surprised by the relatively "stick to the book" script it displayed. Sure, some things were left out undoubtedly due to time constraints, but overall, it conveyed the story well.

Chamber of Secrets did this even better.

As an avid reader, I am quite hesitant to see my beloved books displayed on screen only to have the directors do them no justice. However, with both Harry Potter movies, the visuals were spectacular, the acting well done, and the characters almost perfectly matched. The set design for Diagon Alley and the Weasley house was fabulous! How wonderful to see these places come to life outside of our imaginations! This stays true for nearly every aspect of Hogwarts...from the greenhouse, to the moving staircases, the dorms and Dumbledore's office.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson do superb jobs of playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The movie undoubtedly draws you in and makes you forget that this isn't real...quite an acheivement!

Of course, not all moviegoers will enjoy this one. It is not for the die-hard action fan, the horror-only fans, or those that dislike a bit of magic, imagination, and fantasy. But for the rest of us, Chamber of Secrets accurately depicts what until now, only our imaginations could see. Children will love this for the wizardry and magic, the struggle between Harry and his foes, the friendships that abound, and the simple fun of it all; while adults will love it for bringing them back to a time when magic was, indeed, real.

All in all, I give this a 5 out of 5...fantastically done. Of course, I would have liked to see a bit more scenes from the book added, but I understand time restrictions. Great film and a definite must see!

I really liked the first movie, and I think I like this one more. It's certainly both darker and funnier than the first. This time though, Ron gets the most laughs("OK can we panic now?"). Here we get introduced to new characters, the standout being Kenneth Branagh, a Shakespeare veteran, who stole every scene as Gildaroy Lockhart. I loved it when he said "It's filthy down here," the whole cinema were in hysterics at that. Jason Isaacs was menacing too, and Dobby was hilarious with his constant head-banging. Daniel Radcliffe is audibly older here and it does work at its advantage. I thought 23 year old Christian Coulson as Riddle was very good indeed, though Riddle was much scarier in the book. Other scenes of comic relief were provided by Ron's parents, played respectably by Julie Walters and Mark Williams. However, there were still some frightening scenes, and the plot at times seemed to be convoluted. Richard Harris was surprisingly good, considering he was ailing quite visibly, and some months later he sadly died. This movie is fairly faithful to the source material, and manages to have a bit of humour too. All in all, a dark and funny movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Having done a good job with the first Harry Potter flick, one shouldn't be surprised Chris Columbus was asked to direct the sequel as well. And the second film actually improves on its predecessor, getting a little edgier and less children-friendly (two factors that raise exponentially with each new installment), even though it does repeat an old mistake in certain places.

So, what about the plot? Well, it's Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) second year at Hogwarts, and everything should be fine, given he defeated Voldemort in the previous film and there are no other threats lurking in the magical world. Or are there? A mysterious house elf named Dobby seems to think so, as he repeatedly tries to prevent Harry from returning to school and keeps asking him to leave when students start being attacked by a supernatural, unknown foe. All this seems to be connected to the Chamber of Secrets, but that isn't of much help, especially considering the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, famous writer Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), is a complete idiot.

Darker and faster, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets repeats the Philosopher's Stone's mistake of being slightly too faithful to the literary source, but Columbus manages to compensate this flaw with better visuals, some really creepy set-ups and improved acting from the younger cast members (Emma Watson in particular). He has also made interesting choices when it comes to the new faces in the adult group: Branagh is very, very funny as the ego-fueled Lockhart (a role originally intended for Hugh Grant), but the most interesting addition is Jason Isaacs (whom I can't wait to see again in the fourth film) as Lucius Malfoy, an intriguingly sinister wizard who is as racist and arrogant as his son, Harry's arch-nemesis Draco. As for Dobby, a CG creature voiced by Toby Jones, he is interesting at first but rapidly becomes annoying, his masochistic antics being repetitive and a little dull.

Finally, a special mention for Chamber's best element: Richard Harris, who sadly passed away a few weeks before the movie's premiere. He was, and is, incredibly good as headmaster Dumbledore and despite a worthy replacement (Michael Gambon), in the purists' hearts he will always be the one and only greatest wizard of all time.

Verdict: good, but they could have done better. Thankfully, they did with number three...

This movie is way better than the first one, which everyone is saying because--let's face it--it's true. The three leads have grown into their characters, and their acting is loads better. I kept thinking during the first one, "Aw, look at these cute little kids playing Harry, Ron and Hermione." Now they ARE Harry, Ron and Hermione, though they still won't get any Oscar nods. All the new characters were absolutely wonderful. I was not disappointed at all with a single one, even Dobby. Now, I know a lot of people compare him to another CGI character, but he's not like that at all. I loved Dobby, even though when I saw him the trailers I thought I was going to hate him. Jason Isaacs as Malfoy was an absolute slime ball, and just so deliciously evil. Not bad looking, either, especially with his luscious long blonde hair. Bonnie Wright returned as Ginny Weasley, who had a much more important part and did an excellent job, I was very impressed. I'm tempted to go on about the lovely Christian Coulson as Tom Riddle, and Kenneth Branaugh, who embodies Gilderoy Lockhart on the screen, but this review has a word limit. Even if you are not a massive Harry Potter fan, you will find this movie very enjoyable. It's scary (spiders, snakes, and willows, oh my!) and incredibly funny, thanks to Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and of course Kenneth Branaugh, the incredibly pompous new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Back to the subject of the three leads, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), and Emma Watson (Hermione). They have grown quite a bit since the last film, though it's not a bad thing-Harry and his friends are supposed to grow too. Girls are starting to notice how good-looking Harry has become, and Ron, who is still adorable, and Hermione is becoming very pretty. I was pleased to see that her appearance was more like it was described in the books-she even had big teeth. Ron is finally taller than the other two like he's supposed to be, but that's most likely due to Rupert being older. I only had one disappointment as a major Potter fan-Sean Biggerstaff. While I believe he is absolutely dreamy and am in love with him, he just didn't come across as the mad, maniacal Wood we've grown to love. A consolation for some of the die-hard fans who might find the movie a little fast when they first see it-see it twice. The second time is so much more enjoyable, I can't tell you why, but you'll love it. I'd recommend this movie to anyone, from the scary gothic kid who sits next to me in fourth period to my work-a-holic father, it's great. I can't wait to see it again with my mother, who was away this weekend. I've already seen it twice, and it's only been out for three days. I can guarantee that you'll enjoy it, even if you didn't like the first one-which I personally find odd, but slightly understandable. Slightly. Go see Chamber of Secrets!

Nearly 8 years and 6 films later, this was only my very first acquaintance with the Harry Potter franchise. I obnoxiously considered myself not to be a part of the target audience (too old and anti-computer generated effects), even though the copious fantasy & horror ingredients always somewhat triggered my curiosity. I literally waited until this second installment in the series was programmed on national television and I was too lazy to switch the channel. It didn't take too long before I regretted having waited this long, as "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is a vastly entertaining and impressively accomplished blockbuster. Obviously I can't compare it to anything else, as I haven't seen any of the other films and never even held one of J.K. Rowling's books in my hands, but you don't need comparison in order to know this is excellent fun to enjoy with a big pack of popcorn. According to most reviewing people around here, this second film is already a lot darker and more sinister than "The Sorcerer's Stone" and apparently the series gradually grew more mature. Me, I was already quite astounded with the amount and types of morbidity featuring in this. "The Chamber of Secrets" is child-friendly, but definitely not childish. Of course there aren't any explicit death sequences shown on screen, but there's loads of creepy stuff (giant spiders, snake-monsters, spontaneously combusting birds, …) that I imagine can be quite nightmarish.

Following a successful rescue operation executed by his gingered best friend Weasley, Harry Potter escapes from his insufferable distant relatives and heads back for Hogwarts to attend his second year of wizardry. Even during the journey already and especially upon their arrival, it becomes obvious there's something strange going on. Perhaps Dobby, the overly humble and nervous little elf who came to warn Harry about not returning to school, was right. The rumors about the Chamber of Secrets reopening itself are getting louder and louder. This never before found chamber allegedly homes a hideous monster that destroys all the students whose blood isn't 100% pure wizard blood. Yeah okay, the plot is *slightly* more convoluted that this, but obviously I can't summarize 161 minutes of film and 360 pages of book in just a couple of sentences. The important thing to know is that "Chamber of Secrets" is a spectacularly fast-paced and non-stop adventurous film full of visual gimmicks and widely versatile fantasy elements. The cast choices are excellent. The child actors do terrific jobs and particularly the teachers at Hogwarts are stupendously cast. Richard Harris (who passed away before the theatrical release), Maggie Smith and Robbie Coltrane are great as the 'Good Samaritan' teachers, but my preference obviously goes out to the more malignant and eccentric characters. Alan Rickman as the uncanny Professor Snape and especially Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy provide an additional eerie atmosphere with their presence and Kenneth Branagh shines as the hoax magician and wannabe media superstar Gilderoy Lockhart.