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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
4 stars out of 4
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The second installment in the ongoing film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's
series is scarier, darker, longer and even better than the first. Assuming that
everyone in the audience is familiar with the characters and the setting,
screenwriter Steve Kloves and director Chris Columbus skip the exposition and
immediately launch into the plot. Harry Potter's summer vacation is ended
abruptly when Dobby, a house elf, suddenly appears in his bedroom at the
dreadful Dursleys, warning him of great danger. There's a malevolent presence
lurking in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, petrifying students into
a stony stupor. With his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger
(Emma Watson), heroic Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) must not only find the dreaded
Chamber of Secrets but battle the Basilisk serpent hiding within. Along with
Headmaster Dumbledore (Richard Harris), Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith),
huge Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) and vicious Draco
Malfoy (Tom Felton), there are a bevy of new characters, including Defense
Against the Dark Arts instructor Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), whose
vanity knows no bounds, and Herbology Professor Sprout (Miriam Margolyes), who
graphically demonstrates how to transplant a howling Mandrake. Production
designer Stuart Craig and cinematographer Roger Pratt create dazzling delights -
like a flying Ford Anglia, a red envelope containing a "howler" message and a
fast-paced Quidditch match. Yet at 161 minutes, it's overly long and some scenes
may be too sinister and intense for children under age 8. On the Granger Movie
Gauge of 1 to 10, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is an enchanting,
enthralling, eye-popping 10, a magical miracle of moviemaking.
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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