Nostalgia

Rating: 9/10 (31 October 2016)

I love Chamber of Secrets. To me, it's the last Potter film to make me feel nostalgic towards the series. Don't get me wrong, I love all 8 films, but there's something about the campy and all around goofiness to Chamber of Secrets that makes it all the more endearing.
Even though it was filmed merely months after the first film was released; Harry, Ron, and Hermione feel like they have grown so much since their first outing at Hogwarts. I guess that's the feeling you get when you watch the films within days of each other. With that said, we are jumped right back into the fold as Harry is back with his muggle family in England when a house elf, named Dobby, appears and warns him to never return back to Hogwarts. Being that it's the confident and curious Harry Potter we're talking about, of course he makes his way back to the school within a few scenes.
Much like the first film, we have plenty of entertaining side missions for the trio to go on which included; a flying car, taking a potion to disguise themselves as Slytherin, following spiders into the dark forest, and of course some Quidditch. All of this makes for a brisk 2 hours and 40 minutes of wizard fun. But the film isn't short on its eerie reveals, adventurous thrills, and dark storytelling.
Chamber of Secrets brilliantly balances all of that though. Seeing Harry venture into the secrets of Tom Riddle's diary is some terrifying stuff to see as a kid, as is seeing various victims picked off in Hogwarts due to the Chamber being open. And to me, it holds up to this day. There's definitely a more childish tone to it all, but these are 12-year-olds after all.
This film was also a test for Harry, and particularly Daniel Radcliffe, to show if he can truly carry a film or not. Hermione is sidelined for the last 40 minutes or so and Ron is just about scared of anything they come across. If there was ever a question to that proposal, Chamber of Secrets definitely put that to rest. The first film is great, but this was Harry and Radcliffe coming into their own as character and actor respectively. From here on out it's a much darker and relentlessly thrilling take on the character, so I'll always be partial to the lighter tone Chamber of Secrets presented.
+Balances goofy and gripping scenes well
+Chamber fight
+Unsettling reveals
+Plenty of entertaining missions for the trio
9.0/10