I’m going to borrow the title of a 4 Non Blondes album for my summation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: “Bigger, Better, Faster, More.” The set pieces are larger, the chemistry between the actors has vastly improved, the film moves along much quicker than the first film, and it’s simply a lot more fun to watch. I will say that this movie doesn’t really stand on its own though. That’s not really a knock against the film — there are plenty of franchise installments that require knowledge gained from previous entries (The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Back to the Future, etc). I’m just pointing out that this chapter, and others, can’t stand alone the same way a James Bond movie does.
The movie opens up with the camera soaring over tract homes in Surrey that stretch as far as the eye can see (I had no idea that Surrey was so big). We learn that Harry has spent the summer with the loathsome Dursleys, but at least he has a real bedroom now. Harry’s uncle tells him to stay locked silently in his bedroom while the Dursleys have guests, and everything seems to be going fine, until Dobby the house elf shows up, warning Harry not to go back to school. Somehow Dobby has learned that Harry is in danger, but he’s bound by the rules of house elves not to tell Harry exactly what he knows. Apparently the rules governing house elves require a lot of masochistic behavior too, because anytime Dobby slips up, he starts pounding his head against things. Dobby decides to take matters into his own hands and ruins the Dursleys’ dinner party, meaning that Harry won’t ever be allowed to leave his room. Obviously, the Dursleys don’t know what they’re the dealing with, because the next thing we see is Ron, Fred and George Weasley breaking Harry out of his room and spiriting him away in a flying car (a 1967 Ford Anglia, for the fellow car nuts out there).
As in the Sorcerer’s Stone, it takes awhile before Harry makes it to school, but that’s not really a problem here. There’s far less expository introduction this time around, and the action moves along nicely. For the first time, we get to see Ron’s home and the rest of his family, and there are nice little touches like self-washing dishes and self-knitting needles that hint at what life in a house full of wizards might be like. My favorite part of the scene is when the family patriarch, Arthur Weasley, upon being informed by his disapproving wife that his sons have “borrowed” his enchanted car, brightly asks, “How did it run?”
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We also get to see a magical version of the Star Trek transporter system. Unfortunately, Harry has never travelled via “flue powder” before, and ends up in the dark, spooky Knockturn Alley (maybe he should have taken the left at Albuquerque). Before things take a turn for the worse, lovable Hagrid makes his first appearance in the film, and shepherds Harry back to the safety of Diagon Alley.
While there, we also meet two new characters, the charming and vain Gilderoy Lockhart, and the menacing Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco. Lockhart is played by Kenneth Branagh, who perfectly captures the vacuous charm of a Professional Celebrity, and the elder Malfoy is played by series newcomer Jason Isaacs. Isaacs has played the arrogant, aristocratic snob before, and he shows just the right amount of haughtiness and contempt to really make you hate the whole Malfoy family.
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The look of the movie is much more impressive here; the camera soars over Hogwarts and zeroes in on characters, making you feel as if you flew into class late on a broomstick. And the action scenes happen on a much bigger scale than the previous film; when Harry and Ron miss the train to school, they steal the flying car (again), resulting in a dizzying sequence that has them almost crashing into the train, and actually crashing into a bloodthirsty tree called the Whomping Willow.
Ron and Harry’s narrow escape is the first of many close calls in this movie, and it made me start to think about how dangerous wizardry truly is, and yet most of these characters seem to shrug off near-death experiences as something pretty commonplace. Consider Quidditch; these kids aren’t just playing a full contact sport while wearing minimal protective padding, they’re slamming into each other while flying around at top speed! The forest next to the school is filled with mortal dangers, not the least of which is the colony of giant spiders that chases Harry and Ron, intending to eat them. That being said, the Quidditch match is much more exciting this time around, and much easier to follow.
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The plot of the movie involves the titular Chamber of Secrets, and it turns out the chamber holds a monster that will start killing the lower-class “mudblood” students, unless someone can stop it. In what will be a common theme, Harry, Ron and Hermione, even though merely students, will figure out a way to solve a mystery that has stumped even the great Dumbledore. And, as usual, Dumbledore will explain away any lingering mysteries, and deserving characters will get their comeuppance.
Chamber of Secrets is the second and final Harry Potter film directed by Chris Columbus, and freed from the necessity of endless introductions, he delivers a much more polished product here. It’s longer than Sorcerer’s Stone, but the faster pace and young cast’s developing chemistry make a big difference here. Chamber of Secrets is a better experience the second time around than Sorcerer’s Stone was.
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