Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I remember being a bit disappointed in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when it first came out. I mean, I enjoyed the first film but the second film just felt like more of the same. It probably didn't help that Chris Columbus was directing again, giving the film the same childish enthusiasm and piecemeal pacing. On repeat viewings I've come to appreciate the film a little bit more, if only for the fact that it gives the characters a bit of room to breathe before a darker tone began to creep into the franchise with the third film. I'll just run my thoughts in points like my Philosopher's Stone review...

• The kids are visibly much older. I know they're only actually a year older at most but Daniel Radcliffe in particular seems a lot more confident and gives a much stronger performance.
• Hagrid definitely seems a little smaller after the last film... I'm starting to wonder how many inconcistencies crept by when I first watched the films. John Cleese still appears as Nearly-Headless Nick but he only has a few fleeting apperances... I think he disappears from the franchise after this.
  
• Rupert Grint seems to have taken to heart all the positive reviews he got for his performance as Ron in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone... his facial expressions in Chamber of Secrets are much crazier. I wouldn't call it overacting... well, it is overacting, but it doesn't feel out of place. It suits the character, and Grint is a likeable performer, but he's playing Ron's gormless worrying to the wire in this one.
• I got a vague sense of Harry being a bit of a Luke Skywalker-figure this time around. His enthusiasm, his tragic past, the fact that he gets his hand seriously hurt, his facing off with a dark villain... maybe I'm overreaching, but some of the music in the Quidditch sequence is even Star Wars music.
• I'm not a fan of the Tom Riddle plot in this film. It's not really Voldemort (strictly speaking, it's an attempt reboot of the character) so it feels like it doesn't really count. The idea of Voldemort as a schoolkid doesn't exactly inspire awe and fear either, especially when the audience is expected to think of the character as a scary supervillain.
• Dobby is a fun character, and I think his depiction actually stands up as far as all-CG characters go. A lot of Dobby's success is also down to Toby Jones' voice, he does 'suspiciously obsequious' like no one else.
• Richard Harris gets some great moments as Dumbledore, he feels like such a great fit for the character, which just makes me all the sadder to know that from after this point the character would be played by the decidedly uncharismatic Michael Gambon instead. I know there's not much you can do about it when an actor dies, but surely they could've replaced Harris with someone who had a bit more clout and screen presence?
• The Quidditch sequence is a lot better this time around, the effects are still a bit cartoonish but overall it's a lot smoother, dramatically sound, and easier to follow.
• Kenneth Brannagh is fantastic as Gilderoy Lockhart, he steals all his scenes. The other major new actor to feature is Jason Isaacs as Malfoy's dastardly dad, who strikes a fine balance between subtle and openly evil.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets benefits greatly from a more enunciated plot... after the episodic and introductory nature of the first film, this installment is a lot easier to understand due to the plot taking centrestage. I happen to not really like the plot all that much due to the aforementioned Tom Riddle stuff, but I guess that's just me. It feels like a bit of a stall before the real story starts. But who doesn't want to spend a year at Hogwarts with Harry, Hermione and Ron? How can I complain when it's just so fun and enjoyable?

DIRECTOR: Chris Columbus
WRITER/SOURCE: Script by Steve Kloves, based on the novel by J. K. Rowling
KEY ACTORS: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Kenneth Brannagh, Toby Jones, Jason Isaacs, Warwick Davis, John Cleese, Maggie Smith, Richard Griffiths, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, David Bradley, Julie Walters, Miriam Margoyles, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Mark Williams, Christian Coulson, Robert Hardy, Shirley Henderson, Leslie Phillips, Julian Glover

RELATED TEXTS
- The novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
- The other films in this series are; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Rupert Grint must've realised that the spotlight was on him after the first Harry Potter film. Out of the three main juvenile leads, he alone went out and made a film between the first two Harry Potter movies - the rather charming and blackly humourous Thunderpants.

AWARDS
BAFTAs - won Kid's Vote. Also nominated for Best Children's Film, Best Special Visual Effects, Best Production Design and Best Sound.