Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
A worthy sequel
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| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets poster |
The film opens with Harry, once again, living under virtual house arrest at the Dursley's. There he's visited by Dobby, a "house elf" that tries to stop him from returning to Hogwarts. After Uncle Vernon literally locks and bars Harry in his room, the Weasley's show up in a flying car to break him out.
A number of obstacles block Ron Weasley and Harry from getting back to school, but eventually they do, and the rivalry between Harry and Draco Malfoy heats up with Draco first becoming Slytherin's Quidditch seeker, and later the two chosen to square off in a dueling class.
But eventually a mystery develops as Hogwarts residents start turning up mysteriously petrified, including Hermione, leaving it up to Ron and Harry to try to get to the bottom of things.
The Good:
- The classically trained British cast is again excellent, and now includes Kenneth Branagh too.
- Again the scenes in Hogwart's Castle are visually stunning with ghosts and magic furnishings.
- Now that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone got the setup out of the way, Harry gets to have a more full-length adventure
The Bad:
- Dobby is a CGI character that's more sniveling than Gollum with a touch of Jar-Jar Binks-like attempts at comedy. His scenes are a bit irritating, heavy handed, and even cringe-worthy at times, fortunately they are few and far between
- There's a few too many lucky coincidences here, including a literal deus ex machina moment when Ron and Harry are rescued by a benevolent magic car
- John Cleese's returns as Nearly Headless Nick
- The extended version includes a scene with former Sex Pistol Edward Tudor-Pole
- Richard Harris in his final role (as Dumbledore)
Pairing: Hot tea
The Verdict:
***1/2 out of *****
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