Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Daniel Radcliffe|Rupert Grint|Emma Watson|Kenneth Branagh
Daniel Radcliffe	Harry Potter
Emma Watson	Hermione Granger
Rupert Grint	Ron Weasley
Harry Melling	Dudley Dursley
Fiona Shaw	Aunt Petunia
Kenneth Branagh	Gilderoy Lockhart
Robbie Coltrane	Hagrid
Richard Griffiths	Uncle Vernon
Richard Harris	Albus Dumbledore
John Cleese	Nearly Headless Nick

Director	Chris Columbus
Producer	David Heyman
Writer	J.K. Rowling; Steven Kloves

The world's most famous boy wizard dives straight into a darker and more thrilling magical adventure in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It's practically the same set-up--something evil's afoot at Hogwarts; Harry and his pals must put it right--but fans of the books won't be disappointed. Director Chris Columbus, whose artistic licence is necessarily limited by the demands of adapting JK Rowling's phenomenally popular novel, does a spectacular job rendering Rowling's imaginary world: the production design and costumes are fascinating in their own right; such is the impressive attention to detail.

Daniel Radcliffe gives a more assured performance here as Harry, though he's not quite strong enough to carry the film without the aid of an excellent ensemble cast of experienced adults, notably a twinkly-eyed Kenneth Branagh. Of course, most viewers will already know what's going to happen as far as the story is concerned, so for them the pleasure in watching The Chamber of Secrets lies in the visualisation of Rowling's magical creations and the verve brought to the action sequences. It's fantastic fun for kids and a good excuse to regress back to childhood for the rest of us. --Laura Bushell

On the DVD: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets's first disc offers the film in all its fine widescreen (2.35:1) and surround-sound glory--it's a shame they didn't think of adding a commentary.

The second disc's special features are sparse compared to last year's release, most notably the games, which are simpler and dull in comparison to The Philosopher's Stone. Gilderoy Lockhart's classroom offers nothing magical, and the interviews with teachers and students offer only snippets of the actors' thoughts on their characters. Don't get over excited about the "Build a Scene" feature as, unfortunately, this is not a miracle of modern DVD technology, but a simple featurette. The real gem on the disc is a 16-minute interview with JK Rowling and Steve Kloves about the transfer from book to screen. --Nikki Disney