#103 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets follows Harry on his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This time, he encounters danger almost immediately when he is introduced to Dobby, a house elf. Dobby warns Harry that he mustn't return to Hogwarts this year. That terrible things are going to be happening. Harry does not listen. Dobby begins to torment Harry, so he does not want to return to the school. First, Dobby intercepts Harry's mail, then he closes the barrier to Platform 9 and 3/4, and finally, he sends a rouge bludger after Harry during the first Quidditch match of the year. This doesn't stop Harry because he is determined to find out what is going on in the halls of Hogwarts. The heir of Slytherin has returned and opened the Chamber of Secrets. No one knows its location, but a monster is said to live there...and it's attacking muggle-born students. With the help of Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who lives in the girls' lavatory, Harry finds his way to the entrance of the chamber. What he finds in the chamber is a boy named Tom Riddle, who used to be a student at Hogwarts over 50 years ago. His soul is living in a diary that Ginny Weasley found. Tom wants to return to his body, which we find out belongs to Lord Voldemort. He reveals to Harry that his name TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE actually spells out I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. A battle begins in the chamber with a giant basilisk, controlled by Riddle. Harry defeats it with the help of Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. Harry plunges a basilisk fang into Tom Riddle's diary, and it destroys the bit of soul surviving within it. Again, Harry saves the day. At the end, Harry even frees Dobby from being a house elf to the Malfoy family. In order to free a house elf, you must present it with clothes. Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, into handing the destroyed diary to Dobby...with a sock in it.
This film is the starting point of the long story into Voldemort's soul splitting apart. In the final movies, we discover that Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces. He is storing these pieces of his soul in random items known as Horcruxes. Tom Riddle's diary is the first horcrux that is destroyed. When stabbed with the baselisk fang, the soul is killed. This movie doesn't do a very good job of explaining that its a piece of Voldemort's soul in the diary. Actually, if I had just watched the movie and not read the books, I would be confused as to how a younger version of him got trapped in the diary. I do like, however, that we get the hatred that Riddle feels about his father being muggle-born. That comes into play later in the series, so I was happy to hear that line included in this film.
I also like how they handled the introduction of Dobby. He is one of my favorite characters, and the beginning scene with him smashing things into his head because he's betraying the Malfoys is cute. I hate that he's only included in this film, and he doesn't return until Deathly Hallows because he is in so much of the books that we really do feel awful when he dies in the end. Because they don't include him in any of the other films, I don't think the audience gets a true sense of just how much Dobby and Harry mean to each other.
Again, the casting is fantastic in this film. Casting Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart was perfect. He has a flair when he acts, and it matches Lockhart to a T. Lockhart is such a moronic character, and Branagh really embraces that on screen.
This film starts to show the darkness that surrounds Harry's life at Hogwarts. Voldemort is slowly returning, so Harry's alliances are beginning to form. So are his enemies. At the end of the film, Lucius Malfoy actually starts performing The Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) before Dobby steps in and stops him. Those loyal to Voldemort begin meddling their way into Harry's life, and it messes up things for everyone around him. This film does a great job of showing that. Even the cinematography is becoming darker to match the tone of the films.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film. To me, it's one of the best in the series. You are introduced to so many new creatures and characters in Harry's second year. It is also one of the last times in the series that the film doesn't completely butcher the books.
I give Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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