That having been said, the movie begins with more unhappiness for young Harry Potter who is spending the summer back at his neglectful and sometimes abusive aunt and uncle's house. Please do keep in mind that this movie is based on the book, which means that as good as the movie is, reading the book is better. "Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets" is second movie in the Harry Potter franchise, based on the very popular children's book series. Second Harry Potter Movie a bit Swashbuckling, but OK Another good film for the whole family, but aimed at the younger crowd. The ending is much darker in this one and has a considerable amount of blood for a PG film.
Alan Rickman is wonderfully slimey and his annunciation is top notch for subtext.Īnother Chris Columbus directed movie so it has the same younger flavor of the first one with magical whimsy at every turn. However, his character is crucial to the final books so I do not know how they are going to make up for lost time with this one.Īgain, the acting is great as the kids grow older and learn more and exercise their comedic muscle. What is unfortunate is that these characteristics probably led to him being left out of future movies, which is understandable that some plots need to be left out in order to keep the really important events. If you can get past his eccentricities, you can be truly touched when he is freed from his terrible master at the end. Also who can forget the house elf, Dobby? An animated nightmare reminiscent of Jar-Jar Binks in Episode One of Star Wars, he is more annoying than engaging as a character. Introduced also is the character of Lucius Malfoy, the school bully Draco's father as a villain who sets the events into motion in this story. One of the sad points of this movie is that we don't get very much Hermione which means Harry and Ron have to struggle along a lot longer without her help to solve the mystery. She becomes possessed with a journal containing a portion of the soul of Tom Riddle (aka Voldemort) and accidentally opens the Chamber of Secre ts unleashing a basilisk (giant snake) that paralyzes some students, one of which is Hermione Granger. While she was introduced in the first film briefly, this is our first experience with Bonnie Wright as Ron's sister Ginny. You can't help but laugh at his charming demeanor and best smile award as he fumbles through his terrible classes. Harry's second year at Hogwarts starts with the arrival of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart played by another fine English actor, Kenneth Branagh. It covers many important plot points that are revisited and sets up relationships that will be important later. This is a movie that has to be watched again before attempting to jump into the 6th movie. Dobby almost Jar Jar Binks's this, but movie still GOOD