Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Studio: Warner Brothers Pictures
Director: Chris Columbus
Screenplay: Steve Kloves
Main Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Felton, Richard Griffiths, Jason Isaacs
Grade: C
So at this point Harry Potter is a confirmed film phenomenon. It made more money than Fellowship of the Ring and The Phantom Menace. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint's face plastered corporate items around the globe and Warner Brother's licked their lips at the idea of (at the time) six more films set to come over the course of the next decade.
In my list of the many, many things that annoy me in the world I think around #2493 is 'a darker sequel'. There seems to be a ctach-all statement that everyone publicising a sequel is to throw the 'D' word around to try to get some of that sweet sweet Empire Strikes Back kudos. This always surprises me in a way because Empire Strikes Back is the least successful of all the Star Wars movies. The summer blockbuster crowd rarely goes to see a sequel because that jubilation they felt the first time they left the cinema has been replaced by a desire to feel an overriding sense of ennui on the journey home after the follow-up.
Fortunately we needn't worry about the 'darker' path too much with Chamber of Secrets because Chris Columbus' talents were retained and of all the Harry Potter films the first two feel closest to companion. Chamber of Secrets is very much a continuation of a kid-friendly vision. There are a few more scares, there are a few more jumps, there's a bit more blood but the general feel of this is still a PG story with PG sensibilities.
If Philosopher's Stone is a 'kids strike out' film along the lines of Home Alone or The Goonies then Chamber of Secrets is closer to a 'haunted house' story. Hogwarts is the key character of this film and it's secrets are what Harry, Ron and Hermione are uncovering and ultimately fighting against. Whilst Philosopher's Stone saw the viewer learn everything that takes place in this world as Harry is learning this one already has little time for stragglers. Frankly when Harry still enquires naively on certain aspects of wizardry in the next few films you can't help but wonder how a naturally gifted wizard can be so slow on the uptake.
Along with a sequel comes a self-awareness. The actors, the writers and the producers have heard what people like and what they don't and try to improve wherever they can. Radcliffe is already trying to put more energy into his performance but his lack of an expressive face still hampers him. His broken voice does allow a greater sense of Harry's natural heroism to shine through. The brave actions in Quidditch and questing for the Philosopher's Stone in the first film seem to be more due to pig ignorance of the possible consequences but as he stands up to the ghostly spectre of Voldemort in his 16-year-old incarnation anagram friendly named Tom Marvoleo Riddle it seems more as a sense of duty and knowing what was right. Watson has kept the same consistency of voice that made her stand out in the first film and that has been coupled with a greater sense of being part of an unbreakable friendship triangle rather than a late addition to the Harry-Ron double act. Grint continues to increase his comical mugging pallet from scrunched up face to wide mouthed panic. It's a thankless task at times to be the cowardly comical foil but he takes it all in his stride and never slips into annoyance which is more than can be said for CGI addition Dobby. Whilst not as egregious an offender as Jar Jar Binks there is still little to enjoy about the house elf that sets much of the film's plot in motion.
There is still an innocence about the film that reflect the innocence of the characters but the lack of complexity doesn't allow for a streamlined film. The story is cumbersome and plodding in many places and the fact that the shortest book adapted has the longest running time of the whole series indicates that Columbus and Kloves were still too bogged down in being reverential to as much of the books as possible.
That said I think Chamer of Secrets is a little bit better. The central mystery is more interesting and there is a confidence from all involved and continuing evolving of all the young cast members' comfort in front of the camera and confidence in each other.
One of the joys of re-watching these films has been seeing how much fun the grown up actors have. The strain and stresses of being the lead actors not on their shoulders a veritable who's who of the best British talent have appeared in the Harry Potter films. The show is stolen in Chamber of Secrets by Kenneth Branagh. Whilst perhaps not handsome enough to pull off the heart-throb aspect of Gilderoy Lockhart - the rumoured first-choice of Hugh Grant would have probably been the best choice - he still displays the necessary level of ego and barely concealed cowardice required from one of Rowling's best realised minor characters.
Richard Harris unfortunately died soon after the making of this one and so this would be his swansong as Dumbledore. He provided a very mysterious quality with his headmaster, a sense of great age and great wisdom and true warmth felt towards Harry and the other students of Hogwarts. Whether he would have been able to convince in the later films' requirement of a more active participant in the major conflicts is a moot point of course but he imbued Dumbledore with a great-grandfatherly grace that is almost entirely against the Harris of early works and career legend which just goes to show the great variety in his range.
I'll save praise for the other cast members to keep them evenly scattered around the rest of the reviews but will not end this review without adding praise to Jason Isaacs as the most explicitly villainous character so far in his portrayl of Lucius Malfoy - father to Harry's nemesis Draco and former Death Eater. The long flowing barely subtle in its metaphor whtie-blond hair could look ridiculous but the in-bred aristocratic nature of the Malfoys is made clear - you get the sense he studied Tom Felton's performance as his son in the first film and added adult intellect to an in-bred sense of superiority.
Chamber of Secrets is a treading water picture. You would fear that if Warner Brothers had continued down this safely-safely path the film may have lost any lustre and excitement in later films but a combination of more left-field director choices and Rowling's own deepening of the mythos means that the series continues to improve and with the first two still the weakest in the whole series I am greatly relieved to see that the film does not have a true duffer in the entire run.
Coming up: Werewolves, auteurs and jeans!...
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