Potter Fans Will Be Pleased: for the most part it's better than the first

Rating: 10/10 (10 November 2002)

Note: I tried hard to not include any spoilers in this post so if you haven't seen the movie yet I think you'll be ok reading this message, although if you want to know absolutely nothing about the movie before you see it maybe it's best that you don't read this post! Thanks!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second movie in the series of at least three to be made based on the books by JK Rowling, is for the most part far better than the first film, "Harry Potter and the Philosophers/Sorcerers Stone."
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) have become more comfortable in their roles. They are obviously starting to relate to their characters more easily. This definitely makes the film more enjoyable and more enthralling. Rupert (Ron) is definitely the best of the 3 at playing his part. He certainly has become Ron. Several new characters were added, including Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), who is incredibly convincing at his part, Dobby the House-Elf, who was CG'd so well that he really came alive on screen, there really was no way that I could tell he was computer animated, and also Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson), the ghost of the girl's bathroom who was EXACTLY as I imagined her in the book.

The story was much more exciting because hardly any time was wasted on explaining who the characters were, etc. It moved at a very, very rapid pace- the 2 1/2 hours went by quickly! I think most of the people in the theatre also got really into the movie- hardly anyone got up, moved around, etc., even though the theatre was mostly full of young children. It was also much funnier than the first film... although I do have a few critiques. There was a lot more drama and violence and the "scary" parts, such as the spiders in the Forbidden Forest and the basilisk in the Chamber, were almost overkill. I thought maybe these "scary" scenes were a little too violent, a little too dragged out, and made the film seem even a bit darker than the book. It was, however, very powerful and got the message across that as cute and as happy as Hogwarts is there is definitely a dark side. And maybe I have really underestimated how "dark" the books actually were intended to be.
Anyways, I am very pleased... it was kind of disappointing that my favourite parts of the book- the Deathday party and Valentines Day weren't included- but I understand that the movie would have likely been 5-10 hours if they had included everything from the book! Although I definitely wouldn't complain if the film had been a bit longer. 3 hours would have been ok with me!
I think my favourite part was the Burrow (the Weasley's home)- definitely very, very cute and whimsical and homey. The Weasley family were very well portrayed in the movie. I had been looking forward to seeing the filmmakers' interpretation of their residence. Unfortunately Oliver and James (Fred and George) didn't have very big roles. Neither did Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley) which was unfortunate because he was brilliant as Mr. Weasley. Of course everyone except for the "trio" had rather small roles in this movie because as I said the story was definitely rushed along a bit and therefore a lot of the wonderful dialogue from the books was lost, even more so than in the previous film.
Chamber of Secrets will please all of those who are die-hard Harry Potter fans. Of course, you cannot expect the film to live up to the novels by JK Rowling- they are what hold the true magic of Harry Potter. Both this film and the first are just a means of interpreting the books, not to replace them altogether. Do not go to this movie if you have not yet read the book- trust me, you will probably not enjoy it or appreciate it. Also, do not go to this movie and expect it to take the next Best Picture Oscar award home. However, just like the books audiences of all ages will be able to appreciate this film. Parents who have read and enjoyed the books with their kids should really have a great time watching the movie. In fact, it was the adults who were laughing and really immersing themselves in the show, while the children in the theatre were mostly just sitting in their seats, quietly spellbound. Pre-teen girls seemed to enjoy Dan and Rupert. All in all, considering the fact that I don't think it would really be possible for anyone to do a better interpretation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the silver screen, I give it a 9.5/10.