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That was all to be found in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, which (both the book and the film) has become nothing less than a phenomenon. Out a little later after the first book, was the second installment in what is perhaps the most wondrous franchise in cinema history. Now comes “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, a darker, more treacherous look into the world of Hogwarts and the secrets of wizardry.
Coming again from the first film is none other than Chris Columbus, one of the better directors in the area of children’s films and sappy romances. He was able to bring to life the world of Potter in the first film, and is a success here as well. I enjoy the fact that even though there are literally millions of readers who are loyal to the books, he can still find suspense in telling the story in a way that even though many may know what is going to happen, but not knowing how it will happen.
The thing about this second film is that it is now being compared to “The Lord of the Rings” because the first installment of that trilogy arrived just after “The Sorcerer’s Stone”. I have to admit that although this is a fun and fascinating film, “The Lord of the Rings” is better. It’s most likely the scope that I find the winner to be found. I’m a huge, huge fan of monstrous epics simply because the size is beyond things we see in normal everyday life.
One thing about the books (that I’ve heard) is that they get darker as they progress. I can now believe that, as this film is quite a bit darker in spirit and emotion than the film prior. There is a violent twing to it that wasn’t to be found earlier. I think that that is simply because the first film introduced all the main and reoccurring characters. So replacing that is story, which is new.
So is “The Chamber of Secrets” better than “The Sorcerer’s Stone”? Not quite. I felt that this one was more (for lack of a better term) fake. There’s a scene near the end of the film where I was sure they were using an animatronic creature. But I guess that wouldn’t be a problem if this film were “Sesame Street and the Chamber of Secrets”. *** ˝