I don’t wanna brag, but I consider myself to be an expert on the second Harry Potter film titled The Chamber of Secrets. I’ve played the video game version for the original Xbox as well as read the actual book itself. My opinion might be biased, but I still believe The Chamber of Secrets is the best Harry Potter adventure with the same charm and creativity as well as a well-written mystery that is engaging with and surprisingly complex. Chris Columbus returns to the director’s chair to direct the film version of Harry’s second year at Hogwarts and luckily it paid off big time.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is warned by Dobby the House-Elf not to return to Hogwarts as horrible things await Harry when he arrives back for his second year of school. Sure enough, when he finally gets to Hogwarts, Harry does start to notice horrible things going on as he keeps hearing strange noises in the walls and starts to see some of the students being petrified. Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) soon figure out that all the events have something to do with a hidden chamber called the Chamber of Secrets which can only be opened by the true heir of Salazar Slytherin. Harry counties to go along with his school life as usual, but he and his friends still need to get closer to finding where the chamber is and who the true heir might be.
Now that the audience is familiar with how the wizarding world works, the sequel takes more advantage of going a little more darker and complex while still retaining the likability and creativity of the previous entry. There are still some light and fun moments that will seem familiar if you remember the tone and style of the sorcerer’s stone, but the film is not afraid to show some horrifying and even semi gruesome moments. It’s a smart move to have the storytelling grow up along with the audience and the dialogue delivers a balance of being comical and being serious. The worldbuilding is still as strong as ever and you can expect to see many familiar things along with new things that help make the wizarding world fresh and just as fun to get into as much as last time.
The old characters are back with the addition of new ones that also have well-established personalities and are perfectly cast. Harry Ron and Hermione are once again just a joy to watch when they work their personalities off each other, but the movie also gives some of the characters we’ve seen in the first film much more material to work with. One of the additions I like the most is Dobby the House elf as his character reactions can be portrayed as somewhat funny but ultimately kinda sad at the same time.
The visuals could arguably be a step up from its predecessor as this film combines the best of practical and digital effects to create something familiar, but new at the same time. The Hogwarts and Diagon Alley settings make their appearance once more, but the movie also shows off new places such as the Weasleys home, or Knockturn Alley to shake things up. I’ve mentioned before that the CGI in the last movie while creatively utilized, is unfortunately not the smoothest or timeless of effects ever made. Meanwhile, this movie’s CGI effects in my opinion have gotten a lot better and look much more convincing with how they are executed. Some of the highlights of the CGI include the great expressions of Dobby the house-elf and the final battle in the Chamber of Secrets.
John Willams makes his triumphant return as the film’s composer and he certainly does not disappoint in the slightest. His epic and whimsical compositions return with some of the old music used in the sorcerer’s stone. There is a great mixture of old stuff and new stuff in terms of the music and altogether it makes for a lovely experience.
It’s rare for me to say the sequel is better than the original, but in this case, The Chamber of Secrets manages to bring the same amount of effort and creativity while adding a new story with a great mystery and lovable characters. Whether or not I think the book is better is still up for debate, but I can say that out of all the Harry Potter movies adapted from the books, this is so far my favorite Harry Potter story adapted to film as it has the most memorable storylines and engaging characters.
(Final Grade: A)