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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The Movie

Well, last night, as the moon shone gibbous on my defrosting car windows, I joined a line snaking around the corner of an obscure movie theater somewhere in the cloudy night and sooner than I expected was led into the Chamber of Secrets. The movie, that is. Well, the theater. And after twenty minutes of random movie trivia slides, and a series of (mostly inexplicable and odd) previews, the movie began.

As I sat through the goodness knows how many hours of the movie, I became increasingly delighted as so many scenes I feared would be cut were included, and the characters and effects and sets were exactly as I had hoped and imagined. I feel slightly sorry for those who had accompanied me to the theater, as I sat giggling even when nobody else was out of sheer delight, and twisting in fear at the spiders and the basilisk, and squeaking at odd intervals. But I must say, and everyone I've talked with so far has agreed with me, that it was far, far superior to the first of the Harry Potter movies. So much exposition was necessary, I guess. I don't know what exactly it was, but it seemed like so much less was cut from the book in this movie than in the last, and the characters were all truer, and the sets were more exciting. Oh, it was just superb. I'll probably go again in a week or so, and of course at Thanksgiving with a group of avid fans back home, but for now may I present my own thoughts (almost all of them glowing praise) of some of the details of the movie (which, if you've yet to view the film, you should probably wait to read so as not to spoil anything):

The Dursleys: Wonderful. Especially Dudley. I did feel a bit, here, though, as if they still weren't quite able to portray the depth of the stupidity, selfishness, cruelty, and closemindedness the Dursleys are supposed to have. You don't hate them quite enough. But I suppose that type of exposition is what has to get cut, since they aren't really crucial to the storyline as such.

Dobby: Very impressive. Excellent effects. Quite realistic. Here, again, I didn't quite get the full effect of how unconsciously nice to Dobby Harry is. He seemed a bit more vicious with him than necessary. But I'm impressed with Radcliff's ability to realistically react to a character who wasn't there in fliming.

The Weasleys: Brilliant! Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were wonderful! They picked up on their characters exactly, and even though they didn't have a huge amount of screen time, they managed to use what little they had to fully express their characters. And Ginny was perfect! I wish we had seen more of her, but I realize the preciousness of time.

The Burrow: Great! Just as I imagined it. As always, I wish we could have spent more time in there, but although I would be willing to sit through a five hour movie, I recognize that most people would not. But again, I was amazed and delighted by the amount of detail they packed in to the few mintues we had in there.

The Malfoys: Lucius Malfoy was great. Dead on character. So impressive. And Draco was amazing this film. Even better than the last one. His sneer is so brilliant, and his voice. And wasn't it cool to see the Slytherin common room?

Gilderoy Lockhart: I have to admit, I was a bit worried about Kenneth Branagh, but he was so wonderful! I was infinitely impressed! He, too, was right on character. And his post-memory charm... I think my favorite was him in the painting. Speaking of which, I'm so impressed with the use of the moving paintings! Bravo to Columbus for that! They're so well done! And all the female reactions to him were great, too. (Well, cinematically. In principle, on the other hand... Well, we all know where I stand on that discussion.) It's just a pity Lockhart doesn't come back in future books. Branagh's performance definitely warrants an encore!

The Car: Great! Just as I imagined it. Especially when it comes out of the forest. Awesome. I wondered a bit about the necessity of Harry dangling from the car, which doesn't come from the book. There's enough excitement in the plot of the book itself without adding things like that. Precious minutes that could have been devoted to any of the several cuts that would have been cool to see on screen. But that's just me.

The Whomping Willow: Also wonderful. I was so impressed. And it'll get more screen time in the next movie, which will be very cool.

The Howler: I loved it. This was even better than I imagined. Oh, it was so cute. And so well done! I have to say, the special effects in this movie were great all around!

Professor Sprout: She was great! Just as the books described her. And the Mandrakes... wow. Creepy. i loved the one that bit Malfoy. So funny! I was a bit sad about the cutting of the fluffy pink earmuff bit, which would have been funny, and could have replaced Neville fainting. Anytime something in the book is cut for something not in it, I wonder a bit. But ah well.

Madame Pomfrey: She was great! Even better than I ever pictured her! Oh, she was so perfect! And the skelegrow was so wonderful!

Professor Dumbledore: Well, you all know my beef with him. And I feel bad, now, but I still hold that such a crucial character needs to be dedicated to and excited about the role enough to read the books. I can see how in some movies you wouldn't want to read the book, because you'd want to develop the character from the script alone, but the whole point of these movies are to stay true to the book. He was better in this one. But still, not quite sparkly enough. I forgive him, though. It will be interesting to see who they get for the next movie, and what he will do with it. Dumbledore's office, incidentally, was perfection. I loved the staircase!

Fawkes: Very, very cool. Amazing. I liked the flame and ashes. Speaking of flame, Floo Powder was very cool, too.

Justin Fitch-Fletchley: He was great. All the Hufflepuffs were very cool. Awesome!

The Duel: This was neat. I wish they had included the Snape whispers it into Draco's ear part, and Lockhart's wiggle and drop of the wand. But what they had in there was very cool.

Colin Creevy: He was so perfect! What a cutie!

Moaning Myrtle: She was great! I liked the little glances at Harry. The voice was a little overdone, I thought, and could have been left more normal. But otherwise, very good. Her bathroom was cool, too. Bigger than I imagined...

Quidditch: Awesome. I was glad we got to see more of it. I thought they should have showed some more SLytherin fouls, and included some commentary by Lee Jordan, which, once again, they could have done without adding time. Ah, well. The broom chase was cool.

Oliver Wood: I can count about two million or so girls who were quite pleased with Sean Biggerstaff's screen time and close-up. Anyone in particular...? :P

Spiders: Ooooh, so creepy! And scary! Very scary!

Parsletongue: This was cool. I really liked how they dealt with it. I missed Harry's attempt to speak it but failure to the first time he tries to open the Chamber. That would've been cool. Oh, well.

Polyjuice Potion: This was awesome. The potion itself was so gross. And the transformation was very cool. Hermione's cat-face was a bit much, not how I pictured it, but what are the odds that everything will be exactly as you imagine?

Cornelius Fudge: I don't know about him. We only saw him for a few minutes. I pictured him skinnier, but as I said before... It will be interesting to see him in upcoming movies where he'll have a bigger part.

The Diary: This was very cool. I liked how they did the ink sinking in, and the new letters appearing (although did anyone else think Riddle's handwriting looked a lot like Hermione's?) and when Harry went back into the past, I thought it was very cool how everything but him was black and white. That was very cool. Once again, I side on truth to the book in my belief that they should have had Harry enter the diary by looking too closely to the picture and falling in, cool effect though the tearing light may have been.

Tom Riddle: He was very cool. Nice and creepy.

The Chamber: This was so awesome. Just as I pictured it. I loved the metal snake lock. And the water everywhere, and the pipes. And the basilisk was very cool.

The Ending: This started out good, and I especially liked Hermione's dismay at the cancellation of exams. Nice detail. However, the strange decision to end the movie with the entire Great Hall cheering for Hagrid puzzled me and everyone I've spoken with so far about the film. I mean, yes, Hagrid is a very cool guy, and yay, he's out of Azkaban, but still, as Bisl pointed out, he didn't really DO anything. And, as my moviegoing companion noted, it would have been fun to see the professors cheering the departure of Lockhart, which is how the feast really ends.

Departures From The Books: Most of the departures, except for a few aforementioned ones, were cuts done for reasons of length. But here are a few scenes I was sad to see omitted: Draco and his father in the shop in Knocturn Alley (which was very cool, by the way), Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party, Harry's discovery of Filch to be a Squib, Peeves coming upon Harry with Nick and Justin petrified, Valentines Day, and ESPECIALLY Harry's singing telegram (if I had to pick the scene I most wish they had included, this would be it), the story of the Chamber of Secrets told by Binns (I'd like to see this ghostly professor), and Ginny's failed attempt to tell Harry her secret. But aside from these, and a few other minor omissions (Harry, Ron, and Hermione's stealing of the potions supplies, Lockhart's note for Madame Pince, the award for special services Ron had to scrub for detention, the picking of new classes for next year, the petrification of Penelope Clearwater (although she did appear breifly earlier on in the movie)) basically the entire book was included, which was amazing and impressive.

and of course

Our Trio: Bloody, to borrow from Ron, Brilliant, all three of them! I was infinitely impressed! Hermione was particularly wonderful, I must say, although I am highly perturbed by the fact (one disturbing both to those of curly hair and those who resent the movements in the media to make people desire to change themselves) that she went the way of essentially all curly-haired actresses and straightened it. Sure, she curled it back for the movie, but Hermione's hair, until the Yule Ball in book four, is bushy. Her hair in the first movie was perfect. Anyway, that dissappointed me a bit. But other than that, they were amazing. Growing up so fast! I would like to point out to all the Harry-and-Hermione-as-opposed-to-Ron-and-Hermioners the behavior, certainly sanctioned by Rowling herself, of Hermione and Ron at the end-of-term feast... :P

In short, I was delighted and impressed with the film. If you have any feedback or comments of your own, I'd love to hear from you! E-mail me at dragonfyre52@hotmail.com. Thanks!

To view my response to the first Harry Potter movie, click here.

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