Review by Shirley Muramoto
HARRY POTTER MOVIE REVIEWS HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS - 2002 USA Release: Nov. 15, 2002 Warner Brothers Rating: Argentina: Atp / Austria, Switzerland: 10 / Brazil: Livre / Canada, Philippines: G / Australia, Ireland, Singapore, UK, USA: PG / Finland: K-11 / France, Japan: U/ Germany: 6 / Greece: K / Italy: T / Netherlands: MG6 / Norway : 11 / Peru: PT / Spain, Sweden: 7 / South Korea: All

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (based on J.K. Rowling’s book of the same name) is the second movie in the series following the adventures of the young wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe: THE TAILOR OF PANAMA, All the Harry Potter movies).

It's the start of Harry's second school year at Hogwarts, and it begins quite ominously. A pitiful house elf, Dobby (Voice of Toby Jones), comes to the home of the Dursleys, Harry's non-magical aunt and uncle, with an ominous message. A dire plot is afoot at the school this year: terrible things, horrible things, things which would place Harry’s life in danger. Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts, the house elf warns.

Somebody at Warner Bros. marketing thought it
would be a really GOOD idea to have an overt display
of phallic one-upmanship between two 12 year-old boys
on the poster.
Hermoine, age 12, swishes her hair around like
bimbos in a Girls Gone Wild video.

Harry returns to Hogwarts despite the warnings, and as the foretold plot begins to unfold, he is plagued by continued mishaps, mysterious dangers, and self-doubt – all of which he must overcome to save himself, his friends, and the very school itself.

Confident expression and sword jutting up from waist level.
Now with Ron worriedly looking at his small limp wand.
Hermoine, mostly hidden in the dark corner of the poster,
gazes with wide-eyed apprehension at the bold Harry
and away from her insignificant, unlit wand.
Marketing sex to tweens: priceless.*

The talented cast makes a triumphant return, with Radcliffe once again convincingly portraying the hero Harry Potter (this time without the voice shifting back and forth). Particularly surprising was the well-timed and well-acted comic moments offered by a squeaky-voiced Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley: All the Harry Potter movies).

Some new faces to the cast provide their own stellar performances as well. Jason Isaacs plays the part of the insidious Lucius Malfoy brilliantly, with just the right expressions of superiority and arrogance that perfectly captures the character.

When the vain fame-chasing wizard Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh: FRANKENSTEIN) first appears, it's almost as if he stepped out of the book.

Christian Coulson plays the part of Tom Marvolo Riddle with sinister charm. Even the part of the quirky (and rather annoying) ghost Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson: CLOSE YOUR EYES, FROZEN, HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE) is played convincingly well.

As before, the movie really does a good job of capturing the essence of the written tale (thanks in no small part to screenwriter Steve Kloves). With the gifted actors and a magical script, Chris Columbus manages to give us this thoroughly entertaining film.

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS gets 4 out of 5 ShriekGirls

This review copyright 2007 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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