Latest film in Harry Potter saga is engaging
Published 8:04 am Friday, February 22, 2008
It’s hard work creating a legend.
Nowhere is this hard work more evident on the screen than in the second installment of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” For Harry Potter fans there is much to delight. Although the look of this film is darker and slightly more menacing, thanks to cinematographer Roger Pratt (“The End of The Affair”), the film remains fairly kid friendly.
Softening this darker feel are new, visually engaging sets, like the Weasley’s cottage and Professor Dumbledore’s office, which were dreamed up by returning production designer Stuart Craig (“The English Patient”). They look like such fun places to be that you will wish that Warner Brothers would create a theme park called “Harry Potter Land” so you could spend more time there. That can’t be said however for the rather scary looking Chamber itself, which was created on a soundstage 250 feet long by 120 feet wide and flooded with a foot of standing water that is only a foot deep, but looks deeper because it’s dyed black.
Best of all are the performances of the capable Daniel Radcliffe as Harry and the fine cast of adult supporting actors like Kenneth Branagh as the vainglorious Professor of the Dark Arts, Gilderoy Lockhart, Alan Rickman returning as Professor Snape, Shirley Henderson as Moaning Myrtle, Jason Issacs as Lucius Malfoy, Gemma Jones as Madam Pomfrey, and Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout. We are also treated to a last look at Richard Harris, who was perhaps subdued by illness in his portrayal of Professor Dumbledore, but wonderful to watch nonetheless. His presence on the silver screen will be greatly missed.
The only exception to all this fine acting (and I really do hate to be too critical of a child actor) is Rupert Grint who plays Harry’s red headed sidekick Ron Weasley. Especially in the beginning of the film, his performance threatens to put the “mug” back in “Muggles.” The facial contortions induced by fear are so overdone as to be distracting. Interestingly enough, the scarier the story gets, the less he mugs (or maybe I just stopped paying attention).
Other delights of this film include the Womping Willow, the Weasley’s flying car (a blue Ford Anglia, which required a total of 14 cars in various states of disrepair) and the actual entrance to the Chamber (which I’d love to describe in more detail, but don’t want to spoil the fun). The computer generated character of Dobby, the trod upon House Elf and the costuming of Branagh’s character by costume designer Lindy Hemming are other extremely accomplished aspects of the film to watch for.
In “The Chamber of Secrets,” author J.K. Rowling tells the story of a deep dark secret which is lurking somewhere in the bowels of Hogwarts School of Wizardry. This secret poses a danger to students and teachers alike and there seems to be only one person who can save the day — Harry Potter. Although warned not to return to the school because of the impending danger, Harry thinks of it as the only home he really has and he’ll do anything he can to save it.
Director Christopher Columbus seems to do a better job of keeping the pace going in this installment, but the story still lacks the dramatic tension and passion of last year’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Is screenwriter Steven Kloves to blame? Or is it the fault of the original material, which although rich in imagination, plods along from delight to delight and is not driven forward by robust tension? I don’t think anyone, especially the kids, will care.
