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Movies / On DVD / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

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Reviews Counted:198

Fresh:163

Rotten:35

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Darker and livelier than the first Harry Potter, but much of what's wrong with the first movie is also present here.

Runtime: 5 hrs 35 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: Harry Potter (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) has not had a good summer. Not only has he had to put up with his overbearing Aunt Petunia (FIONA SHAW) and Uncle Vernon Dursley (RICHARD GRIFFITHS) and their dread... Harry Potter (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) has not had a good summer. Not only has he had to put up with his overbearing Aunt Petunia (FIONA SHAW) and Uncle Vernon Dursley (RICHARD GRIFFITHS) and their dread of his magical abilities, but it seems as if Harry’s best friends Ron Weasley (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione Granger (EMMA WATSON) have forgotten him – as they haven’t replied to a single one of his letters. Then, suddenly and mysteriously, house-elf Dobby appears in Harry’s bedroom and warns of great danger if the aspiring wizard should attempt to return to Hogwarts. Dobby is so keen to prevent the young Gryffindor from returning to the school for witches and wizards, he has blocked all of Ron and Hermione’s correspondence from reaching Harry. But despite the elf’s mischievous efforts, the ever-determined Harry is rescued from the Dursleys’ dreary clutches by Ron and his brothers – with the aid of a flying car! – and welcomed into the warmth of the Weasley household. But when Harry and Ron are suspiciously prevented from entering Platform 9 and boarding the Hogwarts Express back to school, the boys take emergency action to avoid being late for the new term – only to incur the wrath of Professor Snape (ALAN RICKMAN), who calls for their expulsion. Meanwhile, news of Harry’s first year heroism has spread throughout Hogwarts and he finds himself the center of much unwanted attention. His new fans include Ron’s little sister Ginny (BONNIE WRIGHT); first year would-be photographer Colin Creevey (HUGH MITCHELL); and most irritatingly, the new Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Gilderoy Lockhart (KENNETH BRANAGH). Outshone only by his own vanity, Lockhart craves the attention that Harry shuns and is only too keen to associate himself with Hogwarts’ young hero. But not even Lockhart can offer an explanation or solution to the slippery and sinister new terror that is gripping the school. Now all eyes are on Harry, and his so-called friends are beginning to doubt him. Everyone, that is, except Ron and Hermione and fragile young Ginny, who has shifted her focus to her mysterious new diary. But Harry is not about to let his friends down and, with or without the support of Gilderoy Lockhart, he will confront the dark force lurking in his beloved school. -- © 2002 Warner Bros. [More]

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs

Director: Chris Columbus

Director: Chris Columbus
Screenwriter: Steve Kloves
Producer: David Heyman
Composer: John Williams, William Ross
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The franchise is safe! Columbus' second alchemical movie ups the thrill quotient to satisfy the faithful. There's more action, and it's scarier.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Offers a more imaginatively colourful world than almost every other children's film out there.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/23/02
Alan Morrison
Alan Morrison
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I stopped thinking about how good it all was, and started doing nothing but reacting to it - feeling a part of its grand locations, thinking urgently as the protagonists struggled, feeling at the mercy of its inventiveness, gasping at its visual delights.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
11/26/02
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

This overlong sequel is short of magic.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/16/02
Barbara Ellen
Barbara Ellen
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Not great, but worth seeing.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/16/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Columbus overcomes several of the first film's problems with this much darker, slightly more edgy sequel.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/14/02
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

For the time being, the Harry Potter thrill ride is whizzing along very satisfactorily indeed.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/13/02
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The special effects here will have you reclining in your seat, admiring the spectacle. Unfortunately, the film's pedestrian pacing won't get you on the edge of it.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/11/02
Adrian Hennigan
Adrian Hennigan
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Boy wizard and his faithful friends battle evil in a magical boarding school. You know, like last time.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
11/08/02
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
Teletext

Gives Columbus the chance to indulge himself with fascinatingly realistic special effects and riveting action sequences.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
10/26/02
John Hiscock
John Hiscock
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Everything about The Sorcerer's Stone pretty much applies to the adaptation of the second novel in the series.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
01/29/09
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Allow yourself the luxury of discovering this enchanted world for yourself.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

The exciting second chapter in the Harry Potter chronicle that in many ways surpasses the original.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
07/24/07
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Though these films are trifles, they are at least high quality trifles.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

May just be the most quintessential Steven Spielberg movie Steven Spielberg never made.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Rick Kisonak
Rick Kisonak
Film Threat

This second effort is even better than the first go around.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
09/30/05
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

It's good enough that I might just start taking an interest in the books after all.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

Back is Chris Columbus, whose direction this time around has a purposely darker, more ominous look.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Kansan | comment Comment
10/15/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, satisfies as a film adaptation, but it doesn't cast as enchanting a spell as the first movie.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
06/22/04
Judith Egerton
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

The second film to spring forth from J.K. Rowling’s popular series of children’s books goes a long way towards amping up the dramatic tension promised by the source material.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
02/01/04
Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown
FilmStew.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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