I half of a really great film. *SPOILERS CONTAINED!!!!*

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2002)

IF the powers that be for the Harry Potter film franchise had combined the best elements of HP&S's S and HP&CoS, they'd really be onto something. The first HP installment was a charmer, the characters and more importantly, the universe of HP were introduced in an easy going way, but with a great sense of wonderment. The general humor of the first film also was spot on..not too cheesy and overbearing, but not understated either. The drawback of the first film though, I felt, was the general lack of suspense. The build up to the mystery of the S's S was a bit lacking and when time came for the three heroes to search the school cellar, I was a little bit less than riveted. Also, the final showdown between HP and umm.....that guy :) , I felt was a bit anti- climactic and a tad bit nonsensical( why even get within skin to skin contact rage w/ Harry? cast a spell and be done with it!). But still, the overall mood of the film was so enjoyable I could overlook these things and take it as it as: a serviceable and workmanlike presentation of a novel franchise, no more no less.
With the second installment, the director(and screenwriter) did a much better job in building up the mystery and mainting a sense dread, doom and suspense. Of course, the sadist in me would have loved to have seen or heard more references to student petrifications just to drive the point home..but they make these films mainly for kids so, its understandable. Even so, I felt the drama of the film was much more intense than the first installment which was to the films credit. The letdown was that the drama came at the expense of the picturesque charm established in the first film. Granted, as the director spent more time on plot than mood, its understandable but I felt it would have been a great balance to the otherwise dark mood of the film. Also, the acting the second go around was a bit dodgy. Standouts of course were Hermione, Harry, the hilarious Ken Branagaugh, and the actor who played Draco's father....very sexy, in an evil way *G*. But, inexplicably, the child acting, aside from Harry and Hermione, was worse the second go around. It wasnt even so much acting as it was pantomiming, and I grew tired of Ron's wide eyed looks of consternation, Draco's scowling and growling and the opera-chorus like reactions of the student body. Next time, tell the kids to tone it down a bit. Because the acting for many of the students was dumbed down , it made some of the attempts at humor seem more ham fisted than was probably deserved, but this was a minor complaint, because the drama and 'mystery' are what keep the film afloat. Two major gripes I had were the deus ex machina of the film, namely the car in the forest and the Phoenix at the end. Actually, there were more instances , but these were the two most glaring. I dont mind deus ex machina too much so long as a reasonable explanation is given, but none was given for either situation, so to me it deflated what were two of the best sequences of the film. And again, the final battle scene had a bit of the nonsensical present like....why would ole' voldy just stand there and let that Phoenix ruin his snake? Or why not keep that book out of harm's way if it was a danger too him? Ahh well.
AS always in films like this, the heavy handed sentimentalism (i.e. Hagrid's ovation at the end) cant be avoided, just borne, so again, Its not too major a complaint. But I still say, if the director and scrweenwriter had only been able to incorporate the action, drama, and suspense of film 2, and the charm, wit and personality of film 1 into both films, they really, really would have had a landmark trilogy on their hands. As it is, both films are equally good in their own right, but well short of classics. But, taken as they are, are very much enjoyable. 3.9 stars out of 5, 8 out of 10 on the entertaining and enjoyable scale. A.N.
BTW- I do think films 2 is better overall, but that for ambience alone, film 1 is more enjoyable.