
Director: Chris Columbus
Writers: J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe,Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
As with the original film, therefore, there’s little to offend the most myopic fan of the books, but also little room for the imaginative extension of the author’s universe that distinguishes an inspired adaptation from a merely workmanlike one. Gandalf’s opening line in The Fellowship of the Ring (“A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Neither is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to”) isn’t found in Tolkien, but I laughed for sheer pleasure at the rightness of the characterization. Columbus’s films contain no such surprises for Rowling fans, but rather give them exactly what they expect, and nothing more.
Though workmanlike rather than inspired, Columbus’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is good workmanship, and like the source material remains entertaining. Highlights include Mr. Weasley’s flying car, which threatens almost to become the movie’s most intriguing character; Dobby the House Elf, annoying but well-animated; the hammy pleasures of Kenneth Branagh as preening new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart and Jason Isaacs (The Tuxedo,Black Hawk Down) as Draco Malfoy’s malevolently aristocratic father Lucius; and a quietly effective moment in which words written in a seemingly blank diary fade away and answering words flicker momentarily into sight.
As with Harry’s first outing, Rowling’s story combines the trappings of fantasy magic (flying broomsticks, magic wands, etc.) with elements of folklore and classical mythology, such as the phoenix with its regenerative powers and the identity of the hidden monster capable of petrifying its victims. (For a discussion of the moral implications of magic in the Harry Potter books, see my essay Harry Potter vs. Gandalf)
What the first story had that this sequel necessarily lacks — and has nothing to make up for — is the thrill of discovery, the sense of wonder at a world of magic previously unknown to Harry (Daniel Radcliffe). The first story wasn’t really about the philosopher’s stone (or “sorcerer’s stone” as it was redubbed by crass American editors); that was only the McGuffin. The real point was Harry’s initiation into the world of magic and Hogwarts, his newfound camaraderie with Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and apprenticeship under Albus Dumbledore (the now-late Richard Harris), Minerva MacGonagall (Maggie Smith), Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), and so on.