Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
November 15, 2002
Warner Bros.
Children's, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror
DVD
B

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/11/harry-potter-and-chamber-of-secrets.html.  I have somewhat changed my mind about the movie, but first I want to cover the regulars for this entry.  (Stars indicate newbies.)

1. Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood
2. David Bradley as Argus Filch
3. John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick
4. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
5. Eleanor Columbus as Susan Bones (still not speaking, since she's not British, but she does join Hermione in crushing on Lockhart)
6. Violet Columbus (another of the director's daughters) as Girl with Flowers in one of the moving portraits*
7. Emily Dale as Katie Bell
8. Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick
9. Louis Doyle as Ernie MacMillan*
10. Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
11. Scott Fearn as Adrian Pucey (although Terence Higgs before)
12. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
13. Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon Dursley
14. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
15. Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge*
16. Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore
17. Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
18. David Holmes as a Slytherin Beater (although specifically Adrian Pucey before)
19. Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy*
20. Toby Jones as the voice of Dobby the House Elf*
21. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
22. Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
23. Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan
24. James Phelps as Fred Weasley
25. Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
26. Leslie Phillips as the voice of the Sorting Hat
27. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
28. Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
29. Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
30. Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia Dursley
31. Charlotte Skeoch as Hannah Abbott*
32. Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
33. Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
34. Harry Taylor as the Station Guard
35. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
36. Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
37. Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley*
38. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
39. Luke Youngblood as Lee Jordan

Also, Amy Puglia, who was a Quidditch Player last time, is just a Pupil this time.  Maria Coyne and Oliver Lavery-Farag again play unspecified students.  Ben Borowiecki is again a Diagon Alley Boy, here named Angus for no known reason.  (It's not like he has lines or anyone talks to him.)   Christopher O'Shea would again be an extra in Order of the Phoenix.  Jamie Dunlop makes another of his three uncredited appearances as a wizard.  

Shirley Henderson is the most in-jokily cast newbie, as Moaning Myrtle, soon after her appearance as another bathroom-weeper in the first Bridget Jones movie.  (She would return to both series.)  And Bridget's mother, an actual Ms. Jones, Gemma Jones, makes her first appearance as Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse.  Miriam Margolyes was in some of my other movies, and she first appears as Madam Sprout here.  (I had to limit tags, so Henderson and Margolyes are omitted.)

Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith both return (as Snape and McGonagall) and have their moments, although fewer than in the first movie.  Julie Walters, on the other hand, makes the most of the many more Weasley family scenes, in her role as matriarch Molly.

The main one-timer of note is Kenneth Branagh, as the vain Professor Lockhart.  Although not exactly handsome, he makes the role his own.  Along with Jason Isaacs, he shows that you don't have to be in the first movie to be impressive in the second.  (And of course there would be other later additions who would shine.)

I still have some gripes about this movie, yes, including "No Hogwarts without you," but I tried to be fair in my viewing this time.  Even with that scene, the line itself is OK.  It's the standing ovation that Hagrid gets that bugs me.  It is the first in a series of tone-deaf endings, and yet it is slightly balanced by the post-credit throw-away gag about Lockhart's latest book.  (The first movie's ending is just right though.)

The two main things I noticed this time were that the children's acting has generally improved (including Radcliffe's, who's less bland, although not at the level he'd attain later), and the movie is darker (although less than later of course).  I really do feel it is arguably both a mystery that we can solve along with Harry and friends (more so than the first movie), and a horror movie.  The latter is seen in the use of the spiders and the Basilisk.  At the same time, the movie is much more of a comedy than the first, especially in the first hour.  On the down-side, there's the beginning of the use of Ron for comic relief, which I don't resent as much as some in the fandom but it can be seen as a cheapening of his character.

There is less shiny wonder than in the first year, but this is compensated for by the general improvement.  Even the special effects and music are better than they were a year earlier.  (I like "Fawkes's Theme" best, capturing the healing and hope.)  I will admit that the pacing is not as good, but it's never dull.

So basically, it's a movie with growing pains, and good and bad mixed together, as suits the voice-changing twelve-year-old hero.

Near, far, in our motor car, oh, what a happy time we'll spend!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
November 16, 2001
Warner Bros.
Children's, Fantasy, Comedy
DVD
B

Since this series is known for a cast that is relatively consistent over the course of eight movies, we'd better start with a list of the performers.  And because the number of my tags is limited, I'm going to just use one tag of "Harry Potter regulars" for people who appear in at least two of the eight movies, although I'll note with each film who these regulars are for that time.  This will not include anyone who has made at least two non-Potter films I own, i.e., Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith, who play Professors Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.  Plus Julie Walters, who plays Mrs. Weasley, would have two later non-Potter appearances.  So here in Stone, we have (in mostly alphabetical order)

1. Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood
2. David Bradley as Argus Filch
3. John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick
4. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
5. Eleanor Columbus (the director's daughter) as Susan Bones
6. Emily Dale as Katie Bell
7. Warwick Davis as a Goblin Bank Teller and Professor Flitwick
8. Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
9. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
10. Scott Fern as Terence Higgs (but playing Adrian Pucey in Chamber of Secrets)
11. David Holmes as Adrian Pucey (but playing a Slytherin Beater in Chamber, no idea why the switch)
12. Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon Dursley
13. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
14. Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore
15. Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
16. John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander
17. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
18. Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
19. Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan
20. James Phelps as Fred Weasley
21. Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
22. Leslie Philips as the voice of the Sorting Hat
23. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
24. Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
25. Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
26. Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia Dursley
27. Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
28. Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
29. Harry Taylor as the Station Guard
30. Julie Walters as Molly Weasley
31. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
32. Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
33. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
34. Luke Youngblood as Lee Jordan

More obscurely, Ben Borowiecki would return in Chamber as Diagon Alley Boy; Maria Coyne and Oliver Lavery-Farag would be students again in Chamber; Lisa Osmond would be a Gringotts Goblin again in DH2, as well as a Quidditch Supporter in Goblet; Amy Puglia who's a Quidditch Player here, would be a pupil in Chamber.  

Elizabeth Spriggs, who was Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility, is typecast as the Fat Lady, while Zoe Wanamaker, who was Oscar's friend in Wilde, is Madam Hooch.  Neither of them would return to this franchise.

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/11/harry-potter-and-philosophers-sorcerers.html.  Note that I'm not using the alternate titles now, since I am reviewing just the American version of the movie (with everyone saying "Sorcerer's").  Less than two years later, I'm not sure I would describe myself as a huge fan per se.  I see flaws in the books and movies.

To some degree, I agree with those who say that Chris Columbus and Steve Kloves, as director and screenwriter respectively, made this too literal an adaptation of the book.  Furthermore, on this viewing, I'm really struck by what a kids' movie this is, in both good and bad ways.  Columbus did capture the wonder and, yes, magic of this world.  We see things through Harry's eyes and Radcliffe is definitely agog much of the time.  We're being introduced to every person, place, or thing that Rowling created.

There's no room for subtlety, and Columbus is not exactly getting nuanced performances out of the children, especially when they scream à la Home Alone.  But that's OK.  Not every children's movie has to be The Wizard of Oz.  That said, Grint and Watson impressed me even at the time, and they bicker like they've been doing that for forty years.  (Radcliffe gives a blander everyboy performance, but he'd come into his own later.)  It's funny to see the little quirks, like Felton's and Watson's over-enunciation, there from the get-go.

As for the adults, other than Smith and Rickman who are perfect out of the gate and would remain so for a decade, the main stand-out is Coltrane.  It's always a surprise to go back to this movie and see how prominent Hagrid is.  It's a natural, relaxed performance, full of warmth and humor, but also bite.  He becomes Harry's guide and surrogate uncle, far kinder than his relatives, who are also featured much more prominently than they would be later.

It would be easy to go on and on about the movie, but these are the main things I wanted to cover, other than John Williams's score, like so much of the film, is overdone but likable.