Second of the series

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2004)

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is the second film of the popular series about the boy wizard. I didn't find this one to be as good as the first film ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), but it's still a pretty decent movie.
This time out, Harry and friends begin their second year at Hogwarts, this time in a darker tone, as they encounter an evil presence that threatens the existence of the school. Just about everyone from the first movie is back, with a couple of new faces added to the mix. Kenneth Branagh and Miriam Margolyes are introduced as new professors, and Jason Issacs portrays the father of Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter's main nemesis. Everybody's terrific once again.
The elements here are just as good as they were in the first movie. Except I have one quibble about it: the 161 minute running time of the film. The first movie ran only ten minutes shorter than this one, but it felt faster. This second movie felt a little slow going at times, and I kind of wished that director Chris Columbus wouldn't have put so much of it into the finished project. I know Columbus was trying to be faithful to the book, but is it really necessary for a family movie like this to go on for as long as it does? It didn't have to. Nevertheless, this is still for the most part a fun film, and Harry Potter fans will like it anyway.
**** (out of five)