Hogwarts is back in session.

Rating: 8/10 (18 August 2019)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second of the Harry Potter film franchise and again directed by Christopher Columbus. Now the film is the kind of movie that feels like it is made for kids but in truth, is very entertaining for all. I liked the film, and even though I have seen this many many times, I still thoroughly enjoyed the plot and given the massive running time, it is hard to enjoy a movie that is this long after so many viewings.
Now the plot is different from the first movie, it is much darker, much more sinister and could be said to be ever so slightly more violent. Now it isn't so much a scary film, but some kids may not like it so much in areas and very little one's could be frightened so heads up. But anyway back to the plot and it's interesting, yet again mysterious and if you have never seen this before, it is one hell of a ride.
The young characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione come back same as ever, although I did feel this movie explores them a bit more and establishes there personalities even more so than the first. Richard Harris is pretty memorable as Dumbledore, he just becomes the most majestic of all actors here and any scene with him in is engaging and thoughtful at times. Steve Kloves who adapts the books for the big screen for me is one person to mention, he makes the film exciting and although still faithful, adds bits here and there to make it more exciting.
Now Columbus directs this in a way that makes it still faithful to the written material, but brings it into a new cinematic era of fantasy movies and this makes it different from others. Columbus also works well with the actors too, all the cast seem to work well and despite the odd parts of bad acting(to be fair they are young) Columbus uses a steady hand. With the writing and directing comes the absolutely wonderful and beautiful score by John Williams who yet again smashes it and creates some of the best work of his career.
One thing that makes this a step forward in the film series is the humour, now the first movie is pretty funny but this really gets it right and the script is mixed well with drama and comedy. Kenneth Branagh is a great addition as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart who is as vain as he is stupid, and also one of the funniest but kind of silliest things about this movie. Some of the one two's between Branagh and not only Radcliffe, but also Alan Rickman etc, are just fantastic.
I felt the main negatives I see in this are that it is too long, there isn't really a lot wrong with this but the length can really drag this out and although this movie has substance throughout, the repetitive tone can get a little dull. I think of the biggest improvements on the other hand are the special effects which show that not only having a massive budget can help, but also that the film series is so big it can now get that kind of fantastic work done on it.
Overall I felt it to be a good movie and very little has changed in my mind since seeing it last. It is the kind of movie though where you can just see it over and over and still not get too bored, just great fun for all the family and probably the last Harry Potter movie that contains that really sweet feeling the youngsters create.