Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (3.5 out of 4)

Starring Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. Directed by Chris Columbus.

Darker and more dramatic than its predecessor, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a magnificent fantastical journey that will have adults mesmerized and children terrified. Director Chris Columbus, screenwriter Steve Kloves and the rest of the crew who've returned to the franchise following last year's dizzyingly successful Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, have improved their individual crafts to deliver a more mature and confident rendition of J.K. Rowling's novel.
Following a boring summer at the home of his annoying family, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is ready to go back to Hogwarts for his second year. But mysteriously he and best friend Ron (Rupert Grint) aren't able to access the Nine and Three-Quarters platform at the train station. Thankfully Ron's father brings (or flies) the kids to the school grounds, but even there unusual impediments attempt to keep the boys away from Hogwarts. Finally inside, Harry meets two new professors: Gilderoy Lockhart (played exceptionally well by Kenneth Branagh) and Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), father to Harry's rival Draco.
Soon bizarre things begin to happen at Hogwarts raising the possibility that the school's Chamber of Secrets has been reopened with its evil lurking through the hallways. Of course Harry, Ron and Hermione (Emma Watson) want to get to the bottom of it.
At 160 minutes, Chamber of Secrets is an involving viewing, but never tedious with Columbus maintaining a steady but comfortable pace. Not recommended for the very young as some scenes are truly brutal and scary.

Publication Date: 2002-12-01
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