Harry Potter et la Chambre des secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is much darker and more insidious in nature than 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This is not meant as a criticism; indeed, it is partly due to the undercurrent of menace, that this second filmic journey into the wizarding world surpasses its predecessor in terms of quality, enjoyment and heart-in-your-mouth scares. While it is funny and light-hearted in places, it doesn't gloss over the unpleasant aspects of life, and deals with racism in particular.

It is Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but owing to a blocked up wizarding portal, a flying Ford Anglia, and a whomping willow, the beginning of the term is far from ideal. Then Harry begins to hear voices in the walls of the school; voices that no one else is aware of. It would seem that the fabled Chamber of Secrets has been opened, and that the horror residing within has been unleashed upon the students.

It is nice to see how the young actors have developed their roles, although Ron's (Rupert Grint) slightly overdone comedic style would perhaps be more suited to stage performance. The real stars of the film however, are not the actors, but the wonderful and intricately detailed sets. From Hogwarts' gothic cathedral, to the glorious muddle of the Weasley household (complete with self-washing dishes and self-knitting jumpers), to the grime and nastiness of Knockturn Alley, the built sets are far more impressive than the CGI wizardry. In particular, the Quidditch match takes far too long and isn't really all that exciting. Having said that though, the computer-animated outsize spider sequence will likely scare the socks off small children, and probably even some parents as well!

If you liked the first one then you're going to love this! There's a darker atmosphere this time around and more characters are introduced including Gilderoy Lockhart (hilariously played by Kenneth Branagh), Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius (a great performance by Jason Isaacs, exactly how I imagined the character from the books!), Ron's father, Arthur, and the mysterious Dobby the house elf (fortunately he isn't anywhere near as annoying as other CG characters in other movies, but I won't name any names... *cough*JarJarBinks*cough*)

The movie sticks closely to the novel, but as in the last movie we miss some of those scenes where we start to learn a little more about the characters, especially the hate-hate relationship between Harry and Professor Snape (who was seriously underused in this movie!)

All in all it's definitely worth checking out, the running time of 160 minutes may seem a little long but it doesn't seem that long when you're watching it. By the way, whatever you do DO NOT leave until the credits have ended, otherwise you'll miss a little extra treat...

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.

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

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!