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| Image Property of Warner Brothers |
By Casey Wren
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in a series of seven, written by J.K. Rowling. The Movie adaptation was made in 2002, and focuses on Harry Potter’s second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It’s a whole new year of wizarding shenanigans for young Harry. So, was it as good an adaptation as the first movie? In short, yes. But this wouldn’t be a very interesting post if I left it at that, so I’ll give you the long answer too.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint play Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, respectively. In the first movie, I felt their acting was rough, but decent. This basically applies to this movie as well, but there are some improvements. While still pretty rough and having problems like overacting, it’s starting to come a little more naturally to them.
Bonnie Wright plays Ron’s sister and the youngest Weasley, Ginny. Her performance is much like the main stars of the film. Her facial expressions are good, but it doesn’t feel completely natural and is sometimes over-exaggerated. Considering her young age, though, it’s still a fair performance.
Kenneth Branagh was fantastic as Gilderoy Lockhart, the arrogant, vain, and incompetent best-selling wizard author. In the book, there’s a bit of a love-hate relationship between the character and the reader. You hate how self-absorbed and downright annoying he is, but love how thoroughly entertaining he is. Branagh portrayed that perfectly on the screen.
Jason Issacs plays Lucius Malfoy. He simply makes your skin crawl. Besides being Draco’s father, he is every bit the sleazy character you’d imagine in the book. Every time he appears on screen, you want to reach through it and slap him.
Julie Walters is absolutely perfect as Molly Weasley. In a relatively small amount of screen time, she captures the exact nature of Mrs Weasley as she’s described in the book. Going from scary-angry to loving, doting mother quicker than you can blink, it’s a fabulous performance.
The moping, moody ghost, Moaning Myrtle, is played by Shirley Henderson. So hopelessly self-pitying and miserable, it’s a very amusing performance. I thought the character was a little more “tragic”, in a way, in the book. There were more opportunities in the book to show that side, but the movie simply didn’t have enough time to fit all that in. It’s not a complaint so much as an observation.
Mark Williams plays Ron’s father, Arthur Weasley. He didn’t talk a lot, but when he did, he was every bit the Mr Weasley from the book. In his fairly brief appearance, he portrayed the quirky, muggle-loving character very well.
Hugh Mitchell plays Colin Creevey, a first-year Gryffindor and thorn in Harry’s side. The character in the book was innocently annoying, buzzing after his idol like a stubborn mosquito. I feel Mitchell portrays this very well, but has the same small problems as the main actors. Also like the main actors, though, he gives a good performance.
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| Image Property of Warner Brothers |
Last, but not least, we have Toby Jones voicing Dobby, the house-elf. The voice fits the character nicely, and matches up to the effects making-up his face perfectly.
Speaking of which, the special effects used to create Dobby were fantastic. He looks about as realistic as you’d expect for the time, and still look quite impressive now.
Near the beginning of of the movie, we see a flying car, a frying pan washing itself, and of course, the moving pictures and paintings common in the wizarding world. Considering it’s only a little while after the first one, the effects overall have improved.
Finally, we have the settings. The Burrow (the Weasley home), is exactly as it’s described in the book. Multiple stories stacked haphazardly on top of each other, a cute little kitchen (full of self-cleaning dishes), it looks exactly like you’d imagine a wizarding home would.
Knockturn Alley is the dark, scary alley even wizards don’t want to find themselves in. You’re as creeped out as Harry is when he’s first experiencing it. It’s only on the screen for a few minutes, but I felt it was worth including for how pants-crappingly creepy they managed to make it.
The Chamber of Secrets, the story’s namesake, is exceptional. Stone snakeheads lining the walls, the monkey-esque giant stone face. Pretty much everything looks like it is from the book, right down to the eerie green glow.
Overall, this was a good adaptation worthy of the Harry Potter title. What do you think of the movie adaptation?
Speaking of which, the special effects used to create Dobby were fantastic. He looks about as realistic as you’d expect for the time, and still look quite impressive now.
Near the beginning of of the movie, we see a flying car, a frying pan washing itself, and of course, the moving pictures and paintings common in the wizarding world. Considering it’s only a little while after the first one, the effects overall have improved.
Finally, we have the settings. The Burrow (the Weasley home), is exactly as it’s described in the book. Multiple stories stacked haphazardly on top of each other, a cute little kitchen (full of self-cleaning dishes), it looks exactly like you’d imagine a wizarding home would.
Knockturn Alley is the dark, scary alley even wizards don’t want to find themselves in. You’re as creeped out as Harry is when he’s first experiencing it. It’s only on the screen for a few minutes, but I felt it was worth including for how pants-crappingly creepy they managed to make it.
The Chamber of Secrets, the story’s namesake, is exceptional. Stone snakeheads lining the walls, the monkey-esque giant stone face. Pretty much everything looks like it is from the book, right down to the eerie green glow.
Overall, this was a good adaptation worthy of the Harry Potter title. What do you think of the movie adaptation?
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