A day before his birthday – and
just a few scant more before he returns to Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry – Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is
visited by a masochistic House Elf named Dobby. After beating
himself up considerably, he reveals to the startled wizard that
if Potter returns to his beloved house of learning for his
second year he will suffer an unimaginable and painful death.
With that,
we are once more whisked into author J.K. Rowling ‘s imaginative
world of warlocks and enchantresses. Harry Potter & the
Chamber of Secrets, the second of the author’s acclaimed
series, begins on this ominous note, and after a deliriously
silly flight in a flying car named “Edsel,” it quickly delves
into darker territory. Blood is splattered on walls, pre-teen
students are turned to stone, a Poltergeist-ian tree
tries to smash our heroes, spiders rampage across the Dark
Forest and a giant snake cruises menacingly through dank
catacombs.
I should be
clear upfront – I’ve only read the first of the Potter novels,
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s
Stone, and as such can’t really be counted as much of a
fan of the series. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the novel – I
did, very much – I’ve just never felt all that compelled to
continue with the adventures of inquisitive wizard-in-training.
Maybe it is the way the novels all feel rather
“paint-by-number-ish” in their storytelling, maybe it is because
– as imaginative as they are – there really isn’t any
substantive weight to all that is going on. I really can’t say
what the answer is, I just know I’ve stopped at one and don’t
really have any strong inclination to pick up number two.
I felt much
the same with director Chris Columbus’ first take on Potter,
last year’s monster smash Sorcerer’s Stone. I enjoyed it
for the most part, but couldn’t help but think that for all the
theatrical flourishes and bigger-than-life special effects, not
much interesting was really ever going on.
It didn’t
help that the supporting characters around Potter were far more
interesting that he was, especially fellow trainees Hermione
Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Gint). Granger, in
particular, stole the show the first time out. Plucky and
determined, a deliciously droll scowl or smirk constantly at the
ready, she was the real star of the first adventure and the
plucky young Watson captured her essence perfectly.
At first,
Chamber of Secrets seems to be heading in the same
problematic direction as the first film by making Potter an
inconsequential presence. Introductions to new characters such
as the snide Lucious Malfoy (a wonderfully wicked Jason Isaacs)
and the new Master of the Dark Arts Gilderoy Lockhart
(brilliantly played with just the right levels of pomposity,
arrogance and clueless ness by Kenneth Branagh) push Harry from
the forefront, and Ron and Hermione once more start the film far
more interesting – and entertaining – than our young hero.
Luckily,
though, this gradually changes as it begins to unfurl. Radcliffe
really seems to be growing into the role, and Steve Kloves
screenplay finally thrusts him front and center placing
Chamber of Secrets’full attention upon him. It just
takes so ponderously long for the movie to actually do so. At
one point, amongst children being turned to stone and the
potentially lethal shrieking of mandrakes, a character exclaims
that, “terrible things are about to happen.” My response to that
was that if terrible things are about to happen, couldn’t they
just happen already? My butt was getting tired.
Granted,
some really dark and terrible things do indeed happen in
this adventure, and when Columbus sets his mind to it,
Chamber of Secrets can be scary fun indeed. (So scary, in
fact, I’m not sure very-young children are going to be able to
handle it. Parents be warned.) A journey into the dark forest by
Harry and Ron to visit the ancient spider Aragog is truly
frightening; the resulting pursuit out of the forest as the
spider’s hungry brood thunderously hunts them down even more so
(Eight Legged Freaks eat your hear out – this is really
how to do marauding giant spiders). Also quite excellently
realized is a gigantic basilisk, its fight with Harry a
heart-stopping affair.
It is also
nice to see much of the cream of Britain’s acting crop hitting
their marks. Robbie Coltraine, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Julie
Walters, John Cleese and Miriam Margolyes make spirited
appearances. And, in his final screen showcase, Richard Harris
movingly presides over the film as the wise and kindly Professor
Dumbledore. As he explains lovingly to Harry about the life
cycle of his beloved Phoenix Fawkes, I was almost moved to
tears.
But at 161
minutes – a full nine minutes longer than the first film –
Chamber of Secrets is far too long and sure to test the
patience of child and adult alike. Also, the sense of wonder
from the first film, like most sequels, is absent this time
around. There is no getting around that – while the are
supremely impressive – much of this movie feels like nothing
more than a widescreen special effects fest.
Don’t get
me wrong, there is a great film rooting around in this second
Harry Potter adventure. If it were 40 minutes shorter, I’m sure
it would have been realized.
