We went to a packed noon showing of the second film in the sequence, so my guess that most people would be home with family, playing or eating, that early in the day was a bust. Still, getting there 20 minutes ahead we had good seats and no hassle with tickets. I enjoyed the movie and so did Vivian. Fairly faithful to the book but some minor differences to account for the fact that the script was perhaps 160 pages and the novel more than four times as long.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was fun and the three main child actors have really nice performances, particularly Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, though I didn’t think as much of Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy or Jason Isaacs as Malfoy senior. The latter were too stilted, wooden, though some fault could be in their scripted lines. Alan Rickman is once again dark and brooding, his Snape a good example (for children) of an adult who doesn’t much care for kids but isn’t evil.
Chamber of Secrets is Chris Columbus’ second and apparently final turn as director in the series and possibly this is just as well. Though he’s had some success with child and child-like performers in the past (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, even the first HP film), I didn’t care as much for his touches here as well as a small over dependence on special effects. Scriptwriter Steve Kloves, who is staying with the series at least through the four known films, does better aside from Draco’s predictable lines. In the special effects department, kudos for Dobby and Aragog, less so for the flying car and Moaning Myrtle.
There are plenty of better reviews out there, so I’ll stop here.
Clearly a must-see
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