Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

6.5

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Sequel of:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Sequel:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Original title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter 2)
Year: 2002
Running time: 154 min.
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Chris Columbus
Screenwriter: Steve Kloves (Novel: J.K. Rowling)
Music: John Williams
Cinematography: Roger Pratt
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Mark Williams, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Jason Isaacs, Shirley Henderson, Miriam Margolyes, Christian Coulson, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, David Bradley, Matthew Lewis, John Cleese, Robert Hardy, Warwick Davis, Gemma Jones, Harry Melling, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Sean Biggerstaff
Producer: Co-production United Kingdom-United States; Warner Bros. / Heyday Films / 1492 Pictures
Genre: Fantasy. Adventure | Magic. Young Adult. Sequel
Movie Groups: Harry Potter Saga | J.K. Rowling Adaptations
Synopsis / Plot: 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.

Awards: 2002: 3 BAFTA Nominations: Best Sound, Visual Effects and Production Design

2002: 2 Critics' Choice Awards: Best Family Film and Composer (John Williams)

Critics' reviews

"Darker and more dramatic (...) [It] may be a bit overlong and unmodulated in pacing, but it possesses a confidence and intermittent flair that begin to give it a life of its own apart of the literary franchise"

Todd McCarthy: Variety
"This new Harry Potter has its flaws, but it's better, as well as darker, than the first."

Joe Morgenstern: The Wall Street Journal
"An improvement on the first (...) But once again, director Chris Columbus takes a hat-in-hand approach to Rowling that stifles creativity and allows the film to drag on for nearly three hours (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"Because it is based on a richer, more interesting book (...) and partly because the director shows more dexterity and imagination of his own, 'Chamber of Secrets' is a little better than 'Sorcerer's Stone.'''

A. O. Scott: The New York Times
"Often the film is as monotonous and despair-inducing as three hours on an airplane with nothing to read but the in-flight magazine"

Mick LaSalle: San Francisco Chronicle
"'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' works the kind of magic that Hollywood rarely displays: It's a sequel that's better than the original"

Minneapolis Star Tribune
"It doesn’t fly, this ”Chamber” at least hovers nicely a few feet off the ground for good stretches of time"

Lisa Schwarzbaum: Entertainment Weekly
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