Title: Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Summary:

Harry Potter is once again liberated from his domineering foster family to spend another year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; and when he's not getting himself into trouble, Ron and Hermione are glad to help out.

School is no fun without the threat of imminent death of course, and viewers won't be disappointed. There's something loose at Hogwart's, and only Harry and his friends can stop it.

Thoughts:

There are a lot of nice things one could say about this film, but the most flattering is it's spellbinding effect on the audience.

One of the reasons that I don't see many movies in the theater anymore (apart from the price) is that some twit in the audience is invariably talking for the whole film. Modern technology has shrunk the world and made it possible to communicate with someone half way around the world in seconds; but apparently there are still people in the world who don't know that when the opening credits start you are supposed to shut the hell up.

I saw this film in a theater jammed to the gills with children ten and under. For the entire 2-1/2 hours the room was silent, except for the occasional patter of footsteps as children raced madly to and from the bathroom.

Oh to be ten years old again. Very rarely is a film as true to one's imagination as this. This film looks exactly as I imagined the world of Harry Potter when I read the book.

This film is also a treat for visual effects enthusiasts. Chamber of Secrets features one of the most believeable digital characters I have seen to date. Dobby the house elf put Star Wars 2's Yoda to shame (although I doubt he's as good with a lightsaber).

The only point on which the film failed to do the book justice was to recreate the sense of suspense surrounding the odd events at Hogwarts. . The book is essentially a who dunnit, where almost every character is a potential suspect. The film attempts to cast suspicion in a number of directions but it's pretty clear from the beginning just who's involved.

This is a minor flaw in a great movie, and I doubt your average ten-year old will feel shortchanged. This is a movie worth seeing on the big screen.