Review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) by Joshua B — 15 Jul 2013

Darker and less burdened with character exposition than the first film, Chamber of Secrets is a fun, well-plotted mystery story. A decades old cold-case is reopened when students begin being attacked in Hogwarts, and it is up to the Boy Who Lived to find out what is behind the attacks and how they connect with him and his own past. Like the first film, its child acting is spotty and the 160 minute runtime is overly long, but the deepening grand narrative of Harry and the Dark Lord far outweigh the film's flaws. The film is dignified by its adult cast of Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, and Alan Rickman, who are joined here by Kenneth Branagh in a fantastic comic role as a new teacher.

The series only gets better from here, and that's saying something.