Following the success of “Harry Potter and the Sorcer’s Stone” the second movie based upon the popular book series by J.K. Rowlings “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” has made its way to theaters for the holidays. With the worldwide box office of the last film tallying in the hundreds of millions, the new film certainly has a big wizards hat to fill in order to top the success and popularity of the first film.
The movie tells of the orphaned wizard Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), who is returning to Hogwarts School for wizards for his second year. Harry has spent the summer at home and travels back to school via a flying car with his good friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint). Little do the boys know that they have a very interesting tale and are soon reunited with Hermione Granger( Emma Watson) as they take on a quest to save the day.
While I plan to refrain from giving away much in my review, I will say that the first hour of the film is mainly setup and that last 90 minutes of the film delivers. The cast is solid and the additions of Kenneth Branagh and Jason Isaacs round out and ensemble cast made even better by the grace and charm of the late Richard Harris and the humor and charm of Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid.
I do want to stress that this new Potter adventure is much darker and scarier than the previous installment, and parents may want to think twice about taking younger children to see this film, as more than one child had to be taken from the screening as they were not prepared for a darker and scarier Harry Potter film. That being said, if you loved the first film then the Chamber of Secrets will have you swept away in its magic as it weaves a spell of mystery, suspense, humor, action, and effects and conjures up a true classic for the ages.
5 stars out of 5
