Film
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Director
- Chris Columbus
- Certificate
- PG
- Running Time
- 162 mins
Whatever your opinion of the cinematic wing of the J.K. Rowling industry, at least it never made the mistake of those cynical franchises where the actual film seems to be an afterthought to the merchandising juggernaut. Shorn of the necessity to set the scene, Chris Columbus’s second and final contribution to the seven-part series simply dives right in with a non-stop, incident-filled adventure, which glides by so effortlessly that by the end you’ll hardly notice nearly three hours have elapsed and happily remain seated for the payoff that awaits after a good five minutes of credits.
Sticking faithfully to the novel once again, the film begins with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) being whisked back to Hogwarts by his chum Ron (Rupert Grint) in a flying Ford Anglia after being accosted by a CGI ‘house elf’ named Dobby, who attempts to dissuade him from returning. It seems there are dark deeds afoot at the school, involving a hidden chamber housing a giant beast, hordes of spiders, a dead girl in a toilet, and an evil force which is petrifying pupils. Newcomers include Jason Isaacs who hams it up as the dastardly Lucius Malfoy, father of Harry’s arch-rival Draco, and a well-cast Kenneth Branagh, who steals the show as the smug, preening, self-satisfied and entirely useless Defence Against Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart.
The story could be a little convoluted for younger children but Columbus moves it along briskly, paying as much attention to incidental detail as the big set-pieces. The Whomping Willow outside Hogwarts is a particularly fine creation, as are the squealing animatronic mandrakes cosseted by Professor Sprout (Miriam Margolyes). And Dobby, who might easily have plumbed Jar Jar Binks depths of irritation, proves to be an expressive and appealing CGI elf. For a brief, delicious moment, the story hints at an altogether darker ethnic cleansing bloodbath as Malfoy rails against the ‘mud-bloods’ threatening to swamp the genetically pure wizards. But with puberty already taking its toll on the young cast and Y Tu Mama Tambien director Alfonso Cuaron waiting in the wings to take over as director, part three promised to be the most interesting instalment in the series.
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