A Great family movie, that will interest 'Muggles' of all ages!

Rating: Null/10 (7 December 2002)

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. A Review by Joseph Gibson.
The waiting of thousands of frustrated children and adult Harry Potter fans alike is finally over, as the sequel to the biggest grossing box office hit, finally comes to our screens. Many have been waiting in suspense for the past year with just the predictable and familiar hype for company. Yet I have to be honest, this time around, my own expectations were even higher!
Though trying to keep objective about hype which with such a film is an obvious given, it was the self confession of a 'great film' by director Chris Columbus that really got me swept up in the Potter frenzy. So to the point Potter-rites, is this a good film? And the answer to this question (not solely due to my own bias having read and enjoyed the books) is Yes.
However, like all budding critics, one must leave behind that easily satisfied eleven-year-old soul, and show that although it is a well-rounded film, there are still points of criticism, which cannot be ignored. For some, this film has seemed exclusionary, snubbing those people who did not watch its predecessor. Yet the main plot clearly stands separate to Philosopher's stone, and although this film's exposition doesn't deal with Harry's history for newcomers, it is not a totally perplexing experience because of this. Anyhow, why should a sequel accommodate an audience which in such a famous franchise, people know is a sequel?
The story begins when Harry is warned not to go back to Hogwarts School through fear of something taking place that will endanger the life of our hero. In loving Hogwarts so much through hating living with the Dursley's in the summer holiday's, he doesn't heed the advice of house elf Dobby. When he arrives a series of strange and mysterious attacks start taking place, and Harry finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy. This film is far darker then its predecessor, and deals with more adult themes that will captivate an older audience as well as the already enraptured youngsters. However, it is also much funnier by a mile, with every scene containing jokes that are not just pragmatic but structural too, and one cannot help laughing out loud at certain points. John Williams again, as in the first, accentuates this through a brilliant score, which fluctuates between comical and quirky tunes you will end up humming, to foreboding and menacing moments of music that capture the darkness at the movies heart. In the first movie, his score seemed to dominate the scene, drawing attention away from the film itself, but in the Chamber of Secrets it is not the case; an example of rectifying the mistake of dealing with all of the films elements too separately.
This time around, Christopher Columbus show's a visual flair and a magical creativity that accentuates the backdrop of Hogwarts that the first film sadly lacked. The opening of the film has a sweeping shot over the Muggle County of Surrey, which slowly pans downwards to Privet Drive and onto the protagonist boy wizard himself. This wonderful shot, showing Harry's loneliness and alienation in the Muggle world, is one of many, rich and vivid in symbolism and imagination. It is not just the direction that has greatly improved in this film, but also its visual effects. Due to time restriction in the last movie, Columbus cut corners. This was noticeable, particularly in the Quidditch sequence, where it almost appeared that they had adopted the archaic Superman effect of placing broomsticks in front of a moving background screen. This time however, the graphics of the fast paced Quidditch game were cleaner and more believable, aiding the belief in J.K Rowling's imaginary game. Most impressive of all though, and to the relief of fan's, the C.G.I elf named Dobby looked best of all. He clearly displayed a range of emotions, and was very much an acting character as opposed to a reacting character. This is very befitting sentiments for the human cast also, as this time around, young Daniel Radcliffe, actually acts, giving a more rounded performance, and at certain moments shining as bright as the plethora of older supporting stars, who in the first movie, were his crutch and the movies soul.
Joining the older cast, which is considered the cream of British acting, comes Kenneth Brannaugh as the Dandified Gilderoy Lockhart, and Jason Isaacs as the deliciously evil father to Draco, Lucius Malfoy. Both their performances were particularly great, and it can be said that fans will feel that both give an accurate portrayal of J.K Rowling's wonderful characters.
It cannot be denied that Columbus had a very hard task indeed translating a book larger then the first into the confined length of a film, without omitting a deluge of classic moments and favourite bits from the Harry Potter world. It would be an impossible task to include everyone's favourite bits, what with Columbus having so much to choose from in the book. Yet it can be noted that although his attempts are admirable, there where many moments that were particularly treasured by fans and were felt important to the story, that found their way not into the film, but onto the cutting room floor. Columbus did however make some very wise cutting as well. The exposition of this movie is considerably shorter, steering into the action of the main diegesis straight away. It is fast paced (sometimes a little too fast paced,) but this fluidity does make it a much better film. Action is of course at the foreground of this movie, but it remains un-Hollywood-ised through J.K Rowling's imagination and intelligence, which is what truly carries the movie along. Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone was a disjointed, incoherent film. Each scene of the movie existed separate to the rest, and usually stood for the soul purpose of 'trying' to amaze its audience with a particular effect or producing a crude and unsatisfactory insight into the Harry Potter world. This time around there is a definite coherency in The Chamber of Secrets, and disjointed scenes have been replaced with ones that do link together, yet you still cannot help but feel you aren't watching a 'real' movie. It is more a film that has tried to follow the conventions and restrictions of narrative upon the page, and has suffered as a consequence, producing something that seems limited and lacking in many filmic qualities.
When we compare this film to other movies in the children's fantasy genre, it still wins first place for creativity, imagination, genius of story telling and of course popularity. Ask yourself, what else is available to children that are as good as these two films to date? Therefore, one cannot deny that as an example of a fantasy film in its genre, it rates highly on the scale of judgement. Those critics and cynics who deem the books better then the films must try to look past the impossible comparison of two separate art forms. The books are of course marvellous and highly detailed, but as an interpretation through film, I cannot help but Feel (leaving minor criticism aside,) that Christopher Columbus has succeeded in directing a much better film then the first. This in itself is a rare site- sequels aren't usually half as good as the original!
It is of course no masterpiece. You're not going to watch Citizen Kane, but dare I say it, the movie is. FUN!!! It is a great family movie and should interest 'Muggles' of all ages!