thevoid99's Full Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot.
One of the greatest genres in films has always been fantasy film whether it’s the sci-fi adventures of Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s very obvious that in recent years, British writer J.K. Rowling have given the genre the freshness it deserved with her Harry Potter stories that drew millions of fan, particularly children who enjoyed the stories of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts School. In 2001, the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone, was finally released as a movie to excellent reviews and high box office numbers. Some movie fans wondered if the second Harry Potter film Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets would exceed in its expectation and the result is that it did, not through reviews or box office grosses, but in masterful storytelling.
As a recent convert of the Harry Potter mania, I saw The Sorcerer’s Stone and enjoyed it for what it was which made want to read all four books. The curiosity surrounding Harry Potter made me look at the second film and after seeing it, I have to say that not only is The Chamber of Secrets better than The Sorcerer’s Stone but it’s a more intense film than its predecessor. Directed by Chris Columbus and screenplay written by Steve Klove that is based on the same story from J.K. Rowling, The Chamber of Secrets is definitely one of the year’s most entertaining films.
In The Sorcerer’s Stone, moviegoers are introduced to Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) who lived in a dreary existence with his awful relatives, the Dursleys until he learns he’s the son of decease wizards and went to Hogwarts, a prestigious magic school, where he meets the comical Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), the intelligent Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), the malicious Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), and a well-rounded staff of professors including Dumbledore (Richard Harris), McGonagall (Maggie Smith), Flitwick (Warwick Davis), the comical ghost Nearly-Headless Nick (John Cleese), the gentle giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), guard Angus Finch (David Bradley), and the unlikable Snape (Alan Rickman). Harry and the gang tried to find out the mystery of the Sorcerer’s stone as well as the story behind the death of Harry’s parents from an evil wizard named Voldemort.
In The Chamber of Secrets, the film picks up where it’s left off as Harry now lives in a room (instead of a closet in the previous film) in the Dursley’s home but Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths), Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw), and cousin Dudley (Harry Melling) still treat him like an outsider, especially in a deal for Vernon where Harry is forced to be in the room pretending he doesn’t exist. Harry ponders why his friends haven’t send him any letters until he learned that a slave elf (a CGI-creation voiced by Toby Jones) named Doddy who tells Harry not to return to Hogwarts because of some terrible danger behind the school. Harry wants to return to Hogwarts but Doddy gets him in trouble with Dursleys that forced Uncle Vernon to put bars in Harry’s window. Later that night, Harry gets an unexpected visit from a floating car driven none other than his best friend Ron and his brothers Fred & George Weasley (James & Oliver Phelps) where they break the bars of the window as Harry packs his clothes and his pet owl Hedwig as they escape the Dursleys.
Harry arrives at the Weasley home where he meets with elder brother Percy (Chris Rankin), little sister and first-year Hogwarts student Ginny (Bonnie Wright), and the parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley (Mark Williams and Julie Walters). There, Harry and the Weasley clan take another secret way to the secret magic town that leads to Hogwarts but Harry gets a first sign of trouble as he says the magic words and lands him at the wrong side of the town. After catching up with Weasleys, he meets up with friend Hermione as the gang goes to the bookstore to buy some books. There, they meet a popular and pompous wizard named Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh) who is adored by many female wizards and students, particularly Mrs. Weasley and Hermione but disgusted by all the male students who thinks he’s an egotistical wizard. Lockhart sees Harry and uses him to help boost sales of his recent book by taking a photograph with him. Harry wasn’t very pleased taking a picture with Lockhart and he then runs into his nemesis Draco Malfoy. Accompanying Draco is his father Lucius Malfoy (Jason Issacs) who seems to enjoy belittling Harry as well as the Weasleys since he always considered them a weak clan of wizards particularly Mr. Weasley. Lucius also takes shot at Hermione because her parents are Muggles (non-magic folk) and she isn’t a pureblood wizard like the Weasleys, Potter, or the Malfoys.
After the confrontation with Malfoys, Harry and the Weasleys enter the secret wall through the Hogwarts Express train where Harry’s feeling that something in Hogwarts that didn’t want him came back as he couldn’t get through the secret wall, thus leaving him and Ron to miss the train. Ron and Harry decides to take the Weasleys floating car to catch up with Hogwarts train but they have trouble along when the train is behind them and as they arrive at Hogwarts, they encounter a big tree that damages the Weasleys’ car and Ron’s magic wand. The duo gets an unwelcoming reception from Snape who had a paper of the floating car that was seen by some Muggles and wanted them to be expelled but since they don’t live in the Slytherin house that he runs, he couldn’t do anything since they live in the Gryffindor house run by McGonagall who decides to give the two detention.
School goes underway for the second-year students of Hogwarts as Herbology professor Sprout (Miriam Margoyles) teaches them to pull exotic plants that reveal screaming roots. Harry then meets up with Gryffindorff team captain Oliver Wood (Sean Biggerstaff) for team practice of the next Quidditch game with the rival team Slytherin where they learn that the Slytherin team has a practice spot as well with a new seeker, Draco. Thus begins one of several battles between Potter and Malfoy and believe me; those two don’t like each other. Even when Draco calls Hermione a “mudblood” that leads to Ron to try and curse Draco with a spell that backfired due to his damaged wand. They go to Hagrid for help where he tells them that the Malfoys were always a bad clan because they think they’re better than everyone and don’t like non-, pureblood wizards at Hogwarts. Harry meanwhile, is starting to feel something strange has arose as voices started to talk in his head and he sees a message written in blood about the Chamber of Secrets being opened and Finch’s cat who looked like she’d been hang but was petrified by some evil force.
Harry is suspected of wrongdoing but Hermione and Ron along with some of the professors don’t think so. The Hogwarts staff picks Lockhart for some investigation surrounding the Chamber of Secrets while he becomes the new teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lockhart and his ego comes in with a painting of himself painting him as he teaches the students how to stop tiny, little elves but has problems until Hermione stops them with a spell that begins the suspicion for Ron and Harry about Lockhart’s credibility. Harry then goes into a Quidditch match against Slytherin where he goes head-to-head with Draco over the Golden Snitch but he is followed by a ball that seems to go after him. After the match, the ball is trying to kill as Hermione stops it that leads to Lockhart trying to repair Harry’s arm but left again, Lockhart’s credibility comes in question as Harry’s arm isn’t repaired.
More eerie messages and voices come for Harry as he, Ron, and Hermione begin to read about the Chamber of Secrets. The Chamber was created by Slytherin as a way for him to create more spells but was rejected by the other founders of Hogwarts School. The chamber could be open by an heir of Slytherin, which made the trio suspect the Malfoys that could be the heirs. In order to get something from Draco, they decided to make a potion in an abandoned section of the girl’s bathroom haunted by a ghost named Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson). More students hit with the same spell Finch’s cat got were sent to the hospital that were later followed by a trail of small spiders coming out after the students were petrified as Lockhart decided to create a lesson where students can defend themselves with their wands. Helping Lockhart was Snape who again made Harry and Ron question whether Lockhart is really the great wizard he claims to be. There, another battle between Harry and Draco comes in that forced Lockhart to make some spell that turned out to be the wrong one as a snake comes in and scares the students until Harry speaks to the snake in a secret language that made Harry to question if he’s the real heir of Slytherin.
Then the film takes a dark turn as Harry discovers about a story of the Chamber being opened by Tom Riddle (Christian Coulson) that led to the death of a non-pureblood student fifty years ago and learned that all the victims of the spell were non-pureblood that spells trouble for Hermione. Harry and Ron discover more about the Chamber and learn some horrible stories surrounding close colleagues, spiders, and snakes. There, they have to discover what’s behind the Chamber of Secrets or else Hogwarts School will be closed for good as Potter.
The Chamber of Secrets is definitely a much darker and more intense film than the first. With its plot twists and simplistic storytelling, it’s an enjoyable film from start to finish. The action scenes in the movie, particularly the Quidditch match is more fun than ever. The performances from the young actors are more relaxed as each of them get more in touch with their characters while the additions of Margoyles and Branagh are refreshing and add more humor to the film while Jason Issacs does an excellent job as the malicious Lucius Malfoy. The rest of the supporting cast, although their roles were brief, were very excellent including Richard Harris in his final film performance (he died a few months ago) that served as an example of his great talent.
Overall, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets is an excellent sequel surpassing its predecessor and makes way for more adventures that will be enjoyable for the family. While kids might be afraid of giant spiders, snakes, and some violent moments, it’s still an enjoyable film to watch. Whether it’s this or the second Lord of the Rings film, they’re both good choices for holiday films. If you’re a fan of magic, Chamber of Secrets is your film.
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