Directed by: Chris Columbus
Written by: J.K. Rowling (novel) & Steve Kloves (screenplay)
It's time for Harry Potter to start his second year at the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, but he gets a warning from the house-elf Dobby that he should not return. It's soon clear that many students of the school are in danger, when it seems the chamber of secrets have been opened, and someone is after the muggle-born students.
Compared to the first one, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is still very much meant for children. It's Chris Columbus' effect for the film. But still, this time the story is scarier and much darker. You can see the slight change in the atmosphere. But it's still not too dark or scary for the kids. This definitely reaches a larger target audience than just families.
If you've seen the Harry Potter movies and read the books, the stories don't seem that great after a while. You are so used to them. But when I just finished watching this movie I understood how amazing this movie is when thinking about the fantasy elements. There's a great wizard (Salazar Slytherin) who's heir is after those whose blood is not as pure as Slytherin would want it. That't has elements of epic and also a great narrative about the treatment of minorities. If only any of those characters petrified by the monster would actually be a minority, instead of being just metaphors for minorities.
The Chamber of Secret feels like a much better adaptation compared to the first movie. Of course I haven't read the book for a while, but as much as I do remember, they didn't use the lines exactly the same way they were in the book. Most important scenes were preserved and this time the film didn't seem too quick - though this one was longer than the first movie. This was almost close to perfect: they chose just the right scenes to include. Of course there are few things that now weren't mentioned or shown, but people who read the books will know them, and people who don't read the books probably won't need them.
There are many visual choices I wouldn't agree with. Like when Harry realises who opened the chamber of secret this time, the flashbacks to that person were... lousy. They used weird effects where the shot was distorted and it just didn't seem to suit the scene anyway. Sure, the technology wasn't as good as what I'm used to seeing, but there had to be better way. Also there were annoyingly many fast, dramatic zooms which just seemed too humorous for the scenes they were used during.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
7 / 10
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