Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Analysis/Review
Preface:
Watched it in blu ray on a 4k TV.
Harry Potter fan.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second movie in the series. The book is generally ranked low on people’s rankings — it isn’t one of the favorites. It isn’t mine either. There are flaws to the source material is what I am saying. But does the movie improve upon it or fall to the same problems?
We’ll see.
Likes:
- Gilderoy Lockheart was a casting revelation. He is the role. Owns it. Hilarious to watch and listen to.
- The VFX holds up very well. Especially the monster effects. The basilisk and Aragog scenes look great. Same with Fawkes.
- The Car scenes, to a lesser extent, look crisp. I was actually shocked about how not-bad they were.
- The story feels solid. Exposition and explanation was given exactly where it was needed to tell the story. Perhaps too much so, but I’ll get to that.
- The Basilisk segment was great. Very well done. The action flowed and the basilisk looked great.
- Continuing the same style as the previous movie, as the director is the same. Aesthetics were consistent. The robes looked the same and so on. The classrooms were improved.
- Some great script points with dialogue and acting. Lucius and Harry, come to mind.
Dislikes:
- Again, pacing issues. It didn’t feel like it had forward momentum. Very plodding, which sort of can become taxing to watch all in one go. It is the longest movie of the series, but I’m not sure for good reason.
- Although the exposition was given to help explain the plot, the movie’s dialogue was very exposition driven. There wasn’t much ‘fun’ in it or fluff to further the characterization of the characters from a more personable angle.
- Dobby effects-wise, popped the most, and was the most jarring. I think ‘bad’ or not-well blended effects show up worse with better quality screens/film, so Dobby stood out more. But it is pretty spectacular how not completely bad, so this is a like/dislike — sort of maybe ‘it doesn’t look good, but it doesn’t look as horrible as it ought to.’
Conclusion:
The first two movies of the Harry Potter franchise are pretty faithful to the books, coming from a pragmatic book fan. Being faithful, they inherit the problems. Chamber of Secrets falls to the same issues as the novel, i.e slow pacing and heavy exposition. It has its good points, to be sure, but I can’t say that it is my favorite or that watching it is an entirely pleasurable experience because of its slowness. It just does not flow alone, and although it does the world a service, that does not make it necessarily an enjoyable movie or that great of one.
