Darker than the first film...

Rating: 6/10 (21 September 2008)

Night 2 of my 4 night Harry Potter week! Each time I view these movies, I kick myself that I have not read the books... One of these days... The basic plot is that Harry Potter enters Hogwart's for his 2nd year, even though he is warned not to come back! The adventures start even before he gets to Hogwart's, and continues on as he and his friends try to find the "Chamber of Secrets". The movie is a bit darker than the 1st with scary spiders, students being petrified, and one large basilisk slithering around. It is interesting to see the character growth of the actor's, plus their own growth in real time. Harry and Ron a looking a bit older than their "12 years"... Malfoy is back, and even better is the introduction of his father, Lucius Malfoy, played by Jason Isaacs. One of my favorite "bad-guy" actors. Ever seen "The Patriot"! Kenneth Branagh is also new as Professor Lockhart, a pompous, self-obsessed new wizard. A different take for the usual serious dramatic actor. And Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane are once again great, but I wish they had more screen time. And it is very sad to see that Richard Harris will no longer be with us as Dumbledore. Such a loss of a great actor! Now rating the 2 disc widescreen DVD: Disc 1 has the movie, plus 2 trailers ( one current and one for Year One). There is also the cast/crew lineup, which once again, I wish they would go a bit more in depth. Disc 2 is great! There are 19 additional scenes. Some good like extended scenes of the "horror" shop, a scene with Lockhart, and talking about the "heir" in study hall. Some were very...huh? "Behind the Hogwarts" has an interview with JK Rowling and screenwriter Steven Kloves. Very good! Also, there is "Dumbledore's Office" which has the making of Dumbledore's office and the greenhouse scene, and a tour of the office. The making of the office was a great docu with a lot of wow moments on how they put everything together. There is also various interviews with the cast. Some good and some bad. I wish Isaac's, Rickman's and Coltrane's were longer, as they are genuine funny people. Overall, another great Harry Potter movie in the series, and a great DVD! Highly worth buying and adding to the home collection!