Harry OPENED big, but The Two Towers will be the REAL deal!

Rating: 1/10 (20 November 2002)

Okay, this is my second posting after someone felt the need to trash my first review of this AVERAGE film. Everyone knew that this film would OPEN big. However, with Die Another Day opening this weekend, look for the grosses to drop. As for the film, it follows the book TOO CLOSELY, and there is absolutely no originality to this or the first Harry Potter film.
Only the true diehard HP fans will appreciate everything this movie has to offer, and thus has a niche audience as well. I have noticed a trend: It seems that instead of watching the HP films for what they are, people are constantly comparing the movies to the books, noting the similarities and differences in each. Given, anyone that watches a movie after reading the book will more than likely make comparisons. It seems that the director was trying too hard to please the diehard Harry Potter fans more than make a film for his own sake.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring managed to do what the first Harry Potter couldn't, to be a great book AND film at the same time. Both Harry Potter and The Fellowship of the Ring were big hits at the box office, but Lord of the Rings managed to win just about every kind of award conceivable while, (Four Oscar wins) Potter was recognized for what it is, a children's movie with NO Oscars!
In contrast, The Lord of the Rings films (also based on books) are Peter Jackson's own vision of the series, rather than just a routine retelling of what happens in the novels. He managed to incorporate the entire LOTR phenomenon into the films, not just the books themselves, and as a result, the world of Middle-Earth is a living, breathing tangible entity. Plus he didn't feel the need to stage things exactly the way they happened in the novels. A good example of this is his use of elements mentioned only in the appendices of the last book, most notably the scene in the first film between Aragorn and Arwen. Arwen was barely mentioned in the first novel, but Jackson manages to make you care about this little known character who's willing to give up an immortal existence to spend a mortal life with the man she loves. It's these reasons I feel LOTR is the far better series, and I have complete confidence that The Two Towers will knock everyone's socks off just as The Fellowship of the Ring did!
An average 4 on a scale of 1-10 for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!
GET READY FOR THE TWO TOWERS OPENING ON DECEMBER 18TH, 2002 ORDER YOUR TICKETS EARLY!!!