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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
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Storyline
Harry Potter is in his second year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is visited by a house-elf named Dobby and warned not to go back to Hogwarts. Harry ignores his warning, and returns. He is still famous, although still disliked by Snape, Malfoy, and the rest of the Slytherins. But then, strange things start to happen. People are becoming petrified, and no-one knows what is doing it. Harry keeps hearing a voice.. a voice which seems to be coming from within the walls. They are told the story of the Chamber of Secrets. It is said that only Salazar Slytherin's true descendent will be able to open it. Harry, it turns out, is a Parsel-tongue. This means that he is able to speak/understand snakes. Everyone thinks that it's him that has opened the Chamber of Secrets because that is what Slytherin was famous for. |
Backdrops
The Director
Chris Columbus
Christopher Joseph Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had most success with the first film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, along with Home Alone, winning a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Columbus (filmmaker), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
News Stories
Harry Potter Wizard Collection Revealed
Im your host Tatiana carrier with the latest on the Harry potter Wizards Collection.
Warner Bros. Home Video has announced the release of the Harry Potter Wizards Collection on Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack in a nifty box set!!!! Not only does the set feature all the magical films, ...
User Reviews
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Do They Have Fans Writing the Harry Potter Screenplays?
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First off - I love the Harry Potter book series. I was one of those who dressed up in the wizard costume and stood in line at midnight to get the latest Harry Potter book. I then read the book as soon as I got it - then reread it in the morning when I could, being more awake, understand it better.
So perhaps it should come as little surprise that many of the Harry Potter movies have been disappointing to me. Not that they were bad technically or visually; the directors (usually) did a good job with the screenplay they had.
Indeed, it's the screenplay that killed the films. I know, I know, it's hard to make a perfect representation of J. K. Rowling's 300 or 500 or 800 page books - but really, they could've done better in most cases. It's the important, canonically, parts they cut out, that made the difference. And, in some cases, to replace said parts, the screenwriters added (sometimes subtly) other parts to the plot that weren't included in the book. Maybe it made for a better Hollywood experience, but what about the fans?
Okay, let me back this up a bit. Yes, of course, the movies are... movies, so they need to appeal to a certain kind of audience, one that doesn't necessarily care about the exact plot details and requires a lot of action. But I think the filmmakers could have stayed truer to the plot, that is, not diverge so radically sometimes (I'm talking about you, Prisoner of Azkaban!), while still satisfying the moviegoers' needs.
For the future movies, I'd like to see a better confluence of literary canon and movie action/intrigue/whatever they need. The Half-Blood Prince trailer certainly looks promising, but, of course, we'll only be able to say wh...
View full review
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reviewed by magicofpi (Filmaster.com) on the 28th of May 2009
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Rather weak, I'm afraid. The book is perhaps the most unremarkable of the series, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same ends up being true of the movie. The story has its moments, but too many things ring false -- the ending in particular. The acting is often subpar, the effects are starting to look quite dated already, and much of the magic just sort of fails to happen. It's still decent entertainment, but the third film is twice as good.