Harry Potter et la Chambre des 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.

The second installment seems to carry on where the first left off. All previous characters return and then some!! The grandiose majesty of Harry Potter continues with new tricks, new delights and little treats that can be taken for granted. At times I find the Harry Potter world has so many wonderful things happening at the same time that you tend to overlook the smaller things (ergos the Weasley's residence and the great Hall) The Chamber of Secrets is a darker tail but is well within the tolerances of most children's ability to handle. The creatures are excellent, the overall story is easy enough to follow, though some aspects have to be explained to younger children.

What does get annoying is that constant overused Daniel Radcliffe cheesy smile. It wears on the sensibilities after a while like sharp finger nails scraping down a blackboard. Overall though, Chamber of Secrets is a solid good natured magical movie only slighter less pleasing than the first.

Chris Columbus said he wanted to make a 2,5 hour movie that feels like 30 Minutes. Well, in my case he surely succeeded! I saw the movie as a member of the press and couldn't get enough of it. I would have gladly sat in the cinema for another two or three hours with a biiiig smile on my face.

Like part one, "chamber of secrets" stays true to the book. I don't know about you - but I HATE it when movie makers change the storylines, add or remove characters and do it for the "sake of the art". I think they do it because they are too lazy to create their own storys, so they rip off other peoples ideas and crush them to make it more comfortable... If a book is loved by millions of readers there must be a good reason for that. Chris Columbus has captured the essence of the book on screen. So, after "philosophers stone" he delivered again!

When reading the book I always envisioned Michael Crawford playing Gilderoy Lockhart. His broad smile and clumsiness à la Frank Spencer would have been perfect for the role. But instead we get to see Kenneth Branagh, so of course you won't see ME complain. The great find of the movie is Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy. In his short scenes onscreen he makes your blood freeze. And again: all the casting is brilliant. Every character just feels right - even if you imagined something different when you read the book. There also has been talk about the young actors getting older. Well, let me remind you that this also happens in the books. In every book Harry Potter and his friends are one year older. So there's no excuse to take the roles away from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. I couldn't imagine someone else playing their parts.

Go see "the chamber of secrets". It's pure fun and excitement! And it will wet your appetite for more to come. Richard Harris couldn't have asked for a better movie and legacy to be remembered by.

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

Prepare yourself for a darker fantasy this time with some harrowing and scary special effects. Apparently J.K. Rowling has hit upon the fact that kids love to be scared stiff along with being entertained by touches of humor and excitement--although I think her imagination works overtime on scenes like the vomiting fit for Ron, one of the more tasteless sequences.

And apparently the makers of this Potter film have met the challenge of providing spiders and snakes that are hideous enough to have Ron and the audience in a fit of hysterics. It's all here--the main events anyway of the Rowling book--and for extra measure they've given a much needed humorous role to Kenneth Branagh who has great fun with his role as the self-loving Gilderoy Lockhart. The only real drawback is that Maggie Smith has very little to do--but the main chores belong to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint who continue to charm as the three leads. Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy has a commanding presence and an amusingly wicked final scene involving the computer created Dobby who steals every scene he's in.

Should keep Potter fans happy--and for a movie two-and-a-half hours long it moves along at a brisk pace from one adventure to another with what by now appears to be mechanical skill, thanks to artful direction by Chris Columbus who knows how to keep this sort of thing moving. John Williams' perky score is a distinct help.