DON'T LEAVE BEFORE THE CREDITS END!

Rating: Null/10 (15 November 2002)

(Note: Take the summary line seriously. You'll miss a nice bit of humor otherwise.)
I won't tell you more about that. I'm just chucking it out as a warning.
The acting was a lot less wooden this time around, not that the first movie was really that bad.
Everyone was a lot more relaxed. And it paid off. Especially in the copious amounts of physical comedy.
The scenes within the Chamber of Secrets had everyone, myself included, jumping up out of their seats. So it might be just a little intense for younger viewers. However, in no way was even mild gore in evidence during the movie.
As I noted, there's a lot more physical comedy this time around. Lots of sight gags, falls, and a fairly wide range of fearful expressions on Rupert (Ron) Grint's face keep the film a lot lighter, even during some fairly tense scenes.
All in all, a good film. I paid full price to get in and consider every penny well spent. I'd even pay full price to go see it again.
One note to parents: Take the kids to the bathroom right before the film starts. At nearly 3 hours long, it's a long sit. ESPECIALLY if you've bought them the super-humongo (value) sized beverages. The movie is fairly dense, and missing even a few moments of it could be disappointing.