Good effects, good cast....but weak story

Rating: 4/10 (20 November 2002)

I too was among the millions of people throughout the world that was looking forward to this movie. I have never even read the books but I still enjoyed the first movie nonetheless. My sister told she that she felt "The Chamber of Secrets" was the most boring book out of all the Harry Potter books so I was a little skeptical about this movie. The movie started off with repetitive elements from the first one such as Harry not being able to go to the school etc. It had some humorous moments in the beginning, but I found the flying car to be very cheesy. The imagery in the movie was top notch, sporting some of the best eye candy I've ever seen. Ah, the glory of technology. The cast was very strong because one of the most important elements in sequels is to bring back the same actors that played the characters. History has shown the failure of many sequels because of different actors replacing the originals, it makes a huge difference. Signing these kids to a 3 year movie contract was a brilliant move.

The movie definitely shines when it comes to the effects and cast, but I feel it didn't deliver in the most crucial step of all, the story. I found the movie to be very slow moving and at times had to stop myself from falling asleep. As far as action goes, it failed to impress me. I wasn't even drawn to the screen until the end of the movie. Harry Potter fanatics will love this movie but regular movie enthusiasts with little interest in the series that have seen the the 1st one shouldn't go in expecting this one to blow the 1st one away. I still feel the first one delivered in all 3 areas: cast, special effects, AND story line. In closing this movie is worth watching because after all, Harry Potter has turned into a cultural phenomenon, so everybody and their grandmothers will end up watching this movie, but I will definitely not be buying this one on dvd when it comes out.