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 The
test is always the sophomore effort. Last year, at the height
of Potter-mania, the first film would have had to be truly dreadful
to have driven fans away. But this year, with the fifth book already
nearly a year overdue and the background chatter of all things
Potter almost silenced, the young wizard faced a stiffer challenge.
Could J.K. Rowling's world retain its charm?
Let's put it this way. We'll all be old, grey and forgotten,
and kids of future generations are still going to be captivated
by the adventures of Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets builds on the foundation of the first film to solidify
the world of witches, wizards and muggles and in doing so takes
the series into the sanctified realm of such perrennial classics
as The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory.
This time, though, Harry and his friends are visibly older and
the story is correspondingly darker. Confident of his identity
in the first film, this time around Harry is less sure of his
destiny and a little fearful of the truth.
The story (for the two of you who haven't read the book) circulates
around the existance of an ancient sealed chamber somewhere in
the labarynthine depths of Hogwarts. It was found and opened once
in the past, resulting in the death of one of the students, and
now someone has opened it once more, releasing something that
threatens the lives of any student of mixed wizard-human parentage.
Warned to stay away by Dobby the house elf (voiced by Toby Jones),
a dismal looking creature who brings chaos in his wake, Harry
and Ron find themselves unable to get through the wall to the
Hogwarts train on Platform 9 3/4. After an eventful ride in the
Weasley's flying Ford Anglia, they make it to school only to find
that Hogwarts is being threatened by unseen forces that are reducing
its student body and threatening the very existence of the school
itself. With even Dumbledore's abilities being questioned, it
is up to Harry and his friends to find the Chamber of Secrets
and end the mayhem.
The mayhem, it should be noted, includes writing in blood on
the walls and an extended sequence with an extremely large number
of equally large spiders. Aragog, the giant spider that had at
one time been a pet of Hagrid's, does appear in the book but this
is one of those cases where a motion picture can bring a scene
truly to life. If you have children who are even remotely scared
of spiders now, you'd better be prepared for a few nightmares
after they see Chamber of Secrets (I know more than a few
adults who'll be hiding under the seats, too!).
Daniel Radcliffe puts in another stellar turn as Harry, older
now but still some way from being a teenager. He's more confident
of his abilities, and more comfortable with being a wizard, but
as he is growing up so the threats are becoming more dangerous
and complex. Jason Isaacs as Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, is
deliciously malevolent and contributes to the sense that Harry
is in the middle of a battle that is being fought on many fronts
and has been since before he was born. For the first time, we
become aware of a wider wizarding world, of some of the work of
the Ministry of Magic, and of the internecine battles being fought
by the adult wizards far away from the enclosed world of Hogwarts.
As Harry's best friends, Ron and Hermione, Rupert Grint and Emma
Watson both seem more comfortable in front of the camera. Watson,
in particular, is blossoming as the fearless and intelligent Hermione.
Grint, while still perfect as Harry's faithful friend, has developed
a rather annoying habit of grimacing at the drop of a hat. Let's
hope that it wasn't at the behest of helmer Chris Columbus and
that he'll grow out of it before the next outing.
The rest of the cast are still perfect, particularly the late
Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore (it will be strange to
see someone else in the role - so much of his performance was
in that wonderful voice). Happily we see more of Alan Rickman
as Snape and a softer Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall. This
time around the teachers are joined by a new "Mastering the
Dark Arts" teacher, the incomepetent Gilderoy Lockhart, played
by Kenneth Branagh who clearly had a wonderful time as the vainglorious
self-promoter.
Still, at nearly three hours in length, Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets is a long movie for small children. When
I saw it, there were the clear sounds of childish restlessness
in the last half hour. This was made worse by the fact that the
film itself was preceded by 25 minutes (!) of commercials and
previews, adding up to nearly four hours in which kids were being
expected to sit still. Of course, it should also be pointed out
that this is not really a film for small children; in addition
to the spiders, there are many other scenes that are somewhat
gruesome or disturbing.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sticks as closely
to the book as the first outing, an aspect that led some critics
to accuse Chris Columbus of adhereing too "slavishly"
to the source material. Of course, if he had strayed they would
have nailed him on that too. There is more confidence in his work
here, however. Perhaps the success of the first helped him to
relax, or perhaps he is just more comfortable with his material.
Whatever the reason, this time around we have a much clearer sense
of place both in the school and in the wider society of wizards
and witches. There is also less need to explain everything, Columbus
and screenwriter Steve Kloves assume that you have already seen
the first film and/or read the books so there's no need to backtrack.
This could be a problem if you haven't done any of the
above, of course, but it does help the flick to maintain a fast
pace. With Columbus bowing out of directing duties now and Alfonso
Cuaron (A Little Princess) set to take over for Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it will be interesting
to see how a change of hand at the tiller affects the tone of
the movies, or perhaps a change from the sunny Columbus to the
brooding style of Cuaron is exactly what is needed as Harry is
increasingly threatened by the world outside.
For now, though, we have Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
and it's a rattling good story. The magic is just as matter-of-fact
as ever, serving the tale but never overwhelming it, while set
pieces like the quidditch match are breathtaking (apparently the
sale of besom brooms in the UK has skyrocketed!). But the appeal
of Harry Potter has never been simply the magic; it is
after all a story about a lost boy who discovers that he isn't
lost at all, and about the importance of friendship and truth.
And it is these elements that leave you, after sitting in the
theater for nearly three hours, yearning to see the next movie,
to find out what happens next and to stay in a world where sulky
ghosts live in toilets, gardeners keep giant spiders and phoenixes
really do rise from the ashes.
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