Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Written by: J.K. Rowling (novel), Steven Kloves (screenplay)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Warwick Davis

Well, the second installment in the Harry Potter saga has finally materialized on the big screen, and even though it was a little less hyped than the first, it has proven to be even more enjoyable. I keep telling myself I’m going to read the books, but I still haven’t gotten around to it, so of course all the events in the movie were brand new to me. If anything, this added to my experience of the movie, because at the very heart of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a mystery, and it was one that kept me enthralled right until the very end.

It all starts when a “house elf” shows up and tries to convince Harry Potter that he should not go back to Hogwart’s because he will be in grave danger. It turns out that there are rumours of a secret chamber that is hidden on the grounds of the school that, when opened, will unleash a monster. Salazar Slytherin was one of the founders of the school, and he was eventually ousted because he wanted Hogwart’s to be exclusive to pure blood wizards, and according to the legend he created this chamber that will one day be reopened by his heir and let loose a monster that will hunt down all the non-purebloods in the school. Events lead them to believe that the chamber has been opened, and this prompts Harry, Ron and Hermione to investigate. Much is revealed from the school’s history, and many people are found to be hiding secrets, but their investigation builds up to a terrifying confrontation.

Now it seems to me that much of the story was written “on the fly”, so to speak. What I mean by this is that the characters seem to encounter one problem after another… you can bank on the fact that anything that can go wrong will indeed go wrong. But even books like the Lord Of The Rings suffered from this to a certain extent. It seems to be a natural drawback to writing a fantasy story, because you can always invent new magical solutions to problems whenever you want. There’s a little more at work under the surface though. There are traces of character development, little hints at things that are to come in the following installments. This is why it’s cool to make a series of movies that were originally conceived as a series. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets is not a mindless sequel; you can actually feel a progression starting to take place.

Part of the “magic” of the Harry Potter series is the variety of characters and their unique personalities. We get introduced to a few new characters in this book, including the amusingly self-centred Professor Gilderoy Lockhart played by Kenneth Branagh, and Draco Malfoy’s father, Lucius (Jason Isaacs), who is about as unlikeable as possible. We also meet Ron Weasley’s sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright), who I am going to guess eventually becomes Harry’s love interest. On a sad note, Richard Harris recently passed away, which means they will have to find a new person to play Professor Dumbledore for the next movie. This is unfortunate because Harris was perfect in the role of the sympathetic old wizard who is wiser than he lets on.

The special effects were top notch once again. Through computer graphics they have managed to create some of the coolest and most realistic-looking monsters I’ve ever seen, which I suppose is par for the course when ILM is involved, but the interaction between the animated characters and real actors in this movie feels much more natural than in either of the last 2 Star Wars movies.

One thing that people keep asking me is whether or not Harry Potter is a kid’s movie.Well the simple answer is yes, without a doubt. After all, the main characters are kids, and what kid wouldn’t want to be in their shoes? The world of Harry Potter is an exciting and adventurous one indeed. But there’s a classic fantasy feel to the characters and events in these stories, one that bares many similarities to The Lord Of The Rings for example. Wouldn’t J.R.R. Tolkien have said that The Hobbit was a children’s story too? And isn’t Star Wars just a simple fairytale? The Harry Potter movies can easily be enjoyed by people of any age, and as it turns out Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets is actually darker than the previous Harry Potter film. The monsters are more menacing, the story is more suspenseful, and the climax of the movie is actually somewhat violent and bloody.

The only real complaint I have about this film is that the actors’ voices drove me nuts. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint are apparently just hitting puberty, and any time they have to act scared or yell something, their voices screech like fingernails on a chalkboard. I guess there’s not much that can be done about this… it will be interesting to see just how much more grown up they are by the time next year’s Harry Potter film hits.

Oh, one other thing deserves mentioning. This is a long movie. Over 2 and a half hours I believe, just like the last one. That is a long time to ask kids to sit still for, but something tells me kids will not lose interest along the way. It’s not that it was unbearable, but some of the scenes could have used a little trimming I think.

The problem is that novels are not meant to be read in one sitting, so there is no limit to how long a book can be. Movies on the other hand, do have certain time conventions that they need to adhere to. It’s hard making an adaptation of a book like this because you want to be true to the material, but you certainly can’t go much beyond 150 minutes. Perhaps in North America we should consider having intermissions in the middle of movies… this type of thing is already done some places in Europe, and although I understand the need to keep people immersed in the film, movies like Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets do push the limits of how long we can remain seated for. (What will they do with the fourth Harry Potter book? That one is like twice the size of the other ones if I’m not mistaken.)

Either way, this was a great movie, and should be enjoyable to just about anyone with a little bit of imagination. Don’t miss out just because you think you’re too old for it. — Sean