 Movie Review Like the first movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was true to the book. However, Chris Columbus once again failed to include several important or interesting scenes. Columbus said that since Peeves had been cut from the final draft of the first film, the irritating little poltergeist would somehow be worked into the second film. As you can imagine why I am telling you this, Peeves never appeared in either film. Also left out from CoS was the death day scene, when Nearly Headless Nick celebrated the day he died. So although many things were left out and many things were foolishly put in, the movie was very good and did indeed stick to the core plot described in the books. As for characters, a lot of colorful characters are introduced into this movie by superb actors such as Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy and Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart. Jason Isaacs gives a spectacular performance. He is so dark and mysterious, so cunning and evil, just like you'd expect Lucius Malfoy to be. Kenneth Branagh was completely believable as the conceited Gilderoy Lockhart. He certainly knows how to act as if he is simply the most intelligent man on the planet. Return performances that seemed outstanding included Dame Maggie Smith as the intelligent and bewitching Professor McGonagall. Alan Rickman also portrayed Severus Snape with returning excellence, he managed to maintain that sinister and wicked tone of acting. Emma Watson, once again, shined brightly amongst her peers in a completely believable portrayal of the intelligent and witty Hermione. Now for the not as good performances. Dan Radcliffe looked more the part of Harry Potter in this film, and he also behaved more like him. I noticed too that his facial expressions have matured from "I'm scared and don't know why!!!" to "Voldemort scares me to death!!!!!!!!" which is, in a way, a good thing. The problem I had with Dan's performance was over acting. I understand that as Dobby was a CGI creation all Dan had to work with was an orange ball on a stick but he kept moving awfully quickly around his bedroom when he was talking to Dobby and he seemed to pause between words and gasp for breath, attempting to make the audience think he was scared of Dobby, although in my humble oppinion the attempt failed. Rupert Grint actually did make a stunning performance in this film, I only had one tiny problem with that: his voice. He can't help it if it squeaks, that's obviously a part of growing at his age. What I couldn't stand was that when his character was supposed to act scared, he would make a whining noise and scrunch up his face, making him look like a sad clown. Other than that, however, he was exceptionally good as Ron. Getting to the plot, the movie was a little more face-paced than I would have liked. Sure it was like the book, but I think that instead of removing original scenes, pointless things like Harry saying he'll always save the day and showing the students at Christmas dinners and such. (Of course, that was a cool scene but I don't think it was necessary!) Other than that, the plot flowed fairly smoothly and it was enjoyable, but I definately liked the book better! Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was a good movie, and it was better than the first. I recommend you all go see it! The movie was rated PG probably because Ron says "Blood Hell!" a few times throughout the movie and there are some scary scenes including an incredibly sickening scene of spiders in the forest and of a Basilisk in the Chamber, however I'm sure kids of all ages will understand that it's not real and will love the movie. I give this movie an A, or 4*s! |
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