Makes the first one feel like an appetizer...

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 2018)

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was an already satisfying meal but "The Chamber of Secrets" make its feel like an appetizer... and what an appetizing premise its title carries.
A second installment that is basically telling you in every frame "wait a minute, you haven't seen nothing yet" is the kind of offer any movie lover can't refuse. And on that level, let me enumerate a few things "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" have: the thrills of an Indiana Jones movie, the CGI expertise of a "Star Wars", the smooth pace of an Agatha Christie mystery, the whimsicality of a "Disney", the capability to immerse you into a whole universe like some blockbuster adapted from Tolkien, and yet... it is a straight continuation of the original film, in plot and spirit.
And that's the mark of a great franchise: you have a first film that doesn't try to play it for the profits only and then the second that doesn't take the previous success for granted and gratifies the audience with denser and richer material. "Chamber of Secrets" might be a tad overloaded but things never go overboard thanks to Chris Columbus's alternation between action and mystery... and action is an understatement when you have a flying car, giant spiders and a confrontation with a giant snake that makes the first film's climax feel like a tea party.
The mystery part is even more fascinating because it's all built on the first film's established elements: Hogwarts and its four founders, the evil Salazar Slytherin whose true intents were foreshadowed by Hagrid's statement that not all wizards turn out to be good and the fact that some students are Muggle-born like Hermione Granger. The original canvas stays the same but the scope gets bigger, as if the clear picture we had on Hogwarts in the first film turned out to be only the tip of an iceberg, a puzzle with many pieces missing and it's impossible to identify which. But this time, the stakes are high, and even innocent students can be killed... or in the best case, petrified. Yes, the material is pretty heavy.
But I guess the choice to make the story darker and edgier was inevitable. In the span of one year only, many kids had their voices broken, they all grew up, Hermione's interactions with the boys get more awkward for obvious hormonal reasons, so they're all fit for more challenging experiences. And guess what? That's probably the secret of the franchise: the audience grew with the characters, which takes me back to my brother who showed me the first film, he was eight when it was released and entered university with the last one. We're talking of life-shaping series, like "Star Wars" but with more humanity.
So yes, for a whole decade, the "Harry Potter" series defined the word 'Fantasy' and its maturation of tone was almost a natural process. Author J.K. Rowling knew she could go darker in the depiction of Hogwarts; just like a known place that reveals hidden corridors, passageways, chambers or even residents. Things that existed all along but whose absence in the first film could make sense, as these additions never seem contrived... neither do a few coincidental accidents. Magic can work in mysterious ways after all and what goes for locations goes for characters as well.
So, in "Chamber of Secrets", we get a closer look on the Weasley family, we meet the little elf Dobie (Toby Wilson) who looks like a mix of Jar-Jar Binks, Gollum and E.T., a phoenix named Fawkes, Lucius Malefoy, the father of Harry's nemesis, played by Jason Isaacs who once again embodies the expression: "if looks could kill". We also meet the closest to a human comic relief as the vain and self-absorbed new teacher Lockhart, played by a hammy Kenneth Branagh and in Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a young girl played so convincingly, I didn't recognize Shirley Henderson. These new characters are all promising but never given a full VIP treatment, their legitimacy always comes from their interactions with the regulars and I must say the eye stares between Harry and Malefoy were quite chilling.
And the good all folks are there, Richard Harris, plays one last time his Albus Dumbledore before his sad passing in 2002, there's also Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and Alan Rickman but this this time in rather static positions, as if the bizarre shenanigans happening within Hogwarts were scary even by their own standards... which is saying a lot. We suspect everything will be all right by the end yet the suspense is all there and the action too, served by convincing CGI-aided special effects. A few things didn't age quite well but I can imagine how impressive the film is for a theater audience, especially during the final act.
Now, it's not indispensable to know the first film but don't expect much exposition: as soon as it starts, Harry knows the place he belongs to (remember his reluctance to go back home at the end of the first), he knows the extent of his power and his friendship with Ron and Hermione. He knows his place and he knows... well, he doesn't know everything and the film turns all his interrogations to plot-driving elements and interesting unveilings of backstories, secret identities, some good, some evil, not to mention those hints you only get after several viewings.
Now, I probably missed a few things but I suspect I'll never know the series as much as I handle "The Godfather" or "Back to the Future" but you don't watch all movies the become an expert, do you?
(On a side note, there is one shock during the film that proves that back in 2002, people didn't make a fuss about boys or girls being equally heroic. Not sure the plot point involving Hermione would have been used today. That's how "old" the film is)