Plodding but wonderful

Rating: 7/10 (22 September 2003)

Don't you just HAAATE the Dursley's?!!
After the outrageous neglect exhibited by the Dursleys in the first "Harry Potter" movie, I thought it simply could not get any worse. But Dudley''s character, portrayed extremely well by Harry Melling, is more atrocious and hate-inspiring than ever.
Dobby was a most endearing, if rather buggering, addition to the cast of characters this time around. We thoroughly enjoyed the "Dobby effects" perpetrated by the CGI technicians. His character, while wholly non-human, was quite sincere and entertaining.
I don't have the problems with CGI in the movie industry with which many seem to suffer...I see that some parts cannot be portrayed by human actors; therefore CGI enriches this final product in such a way that the lack of CGI actually would create a total loss of effect in the movie.
This year is Ginny Weasley's first year and she has the crush of her young lifetime on Harry Potter.
"She's been talking about you all summer. Rather annoying, really." Ronald Weasley to Harry Potter.
This time, Harry and Ron can't seem to get to the platform for Hogwarts Express, and time is quickly wasting. If they are late for the opening ceremony, it is entirely possible they will not be allowed to attend Howarts this year. What to do? What to do? Good thing for Harry that Mr. Weasley is a tinkerer, or Harry and Ron would be in a world of trouble. But wait...it seems their only way to school is the flying car created by Ron's dad. And when they get to the castle grounds, they discover they ARE in trouble. Big trouble.
This movie is just as entertaining and well done as the first. Again directed by Chris Columbus (who STILL neglected to do his homework and put that pumpkin patch and such where they needed to be), the screenplay done as a joint collaboration between Rowlings and Steven Kloves as in the first, and the same, lovable (and hate-able) actors in our favorite "Worst Witch" reincarnations.
As sequels go, this production is quite wonderful; though not quite as excellent a sequel as was the original literary work. While there were as many changes in dialog and such, it is quite well adapted and extremely well perpetrated, although it does lose a bit in the process.
There are secret whispers (unheard by all but Harry himself), mysterious magical books and a conjured beast of Dragonkind!
This is a wonderful story, not just the piece of commercial sequellistic fluff I expected. More secrets of Harry Potter's mysterious past are revealed and you get a good rumination of the back story.
The addition of some of new teachers was a wonderful step and as in the first, Rowlings creations are applied to this production with an inspired intelligence and creativity that it seems as though she, herself, is of magic. Absolutely wonderful.
The message that prejudice is horrid comes through loud and clear in Malfoy's treatment Hermione. It made me want to tie his ears together and hang him up by the other end. While hatred itself is wrong, if you must hate someone, hate them for WHO they are (their personality and the choices they make), not for WHAT they are (their lineage, bloodline, race, or religion).
Only when the heir of Slytherin house has returned to Hogwarts can the Chamber of Secrets be reopened and the evil within set loose.
I was happy to see the inclusion of Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes. We did not get enough of him in the first movie. I enjoyed this movie just as much as the first. This is awesome as a sequel, but it can also stand alone. It does not rely upon the first installment, yet does not repeat the same information we learned in the first. While it was as faithful as it could be, it (as did the first) failed to capture the atmospheric darkness and overall feeling of the novel. It was almost as if the faithfulness was more important than the ambiance, which is a common mistake made in this industry.
I must also add that the trio has shown some great improvement over their initial forays (not that they needed it).
It gets a 7/10 from...
the Fiend :.