HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS - Blu-ray review

Main Review by John J. Puccio

Preserving largely the same cast, with a few new characters thrown in for good measure, the movie continues the saga of the youthful wizard in his magical world of young and old fellow wizards, giant spiders, backstabbers, Basilisks, and miscellaneous evildoers. It's more of the same and great family fun.

Of course, this "more of the same" business can be a double-edged sword. While it's certainly good to have Harry and the gang back at Hogwarts, there is an inevitable sameness about the adventures, about the villains, about the settings, and about the climactic ending, all of which can become tiresome in so long a film. I remember giving up on the "Potter" books about a third of the way into the second volume for this very reason. The second novel seemed too much like the first one for me to be spending my time with it. Still, "The Chamber of Secrets" offers up visual delights the book could never hope to deliver even for the most imaginative reader, and it provides wondrous surprises around every turn, making it a safe recommendation for anyone who enjoys fantasy.

Again directed by Chris Columbus, again written by Steve Kloves from a novel by R.K. Rowling, again with music by the prolific John Williams, and again starring Daniel Radcliffe as wizard-in-training Harry Potter, the movie is a compendium of everything we liked about the first film, with the addition of a few new touches.

It's Harry's second year at Hogwarts, but as in "The Sorcerer's Stone," the story begins with Harry once more locked up by his wicked Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia (Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw) and heckled by his disagreeable cousin Dudley (Harry Melling). And as in the first installment, his friends rescue him, and after a brief episode in Diagon Alley he returns to the magic school, there to face a new challenge and find out new secrets about (OK, under) the ancient castle he now calls home. As before, a decisive battle transpires in the depths of Hogwarts, followed by a surprisingly long epilogue to wrap things up.

This time out, we find people at Hogwarts petrified all over the place, and Harry and his friends find the words "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir...beware" written on a wall in blood. According to legend, a thousand years before wizards opened Hogwarts, one of the founding fathers, Salazar Slytherin, built a secret chamber somewhere in the labyrinthian building, a chamber no one could open except a proper heir to Slytherin, a chamber inhabited by a monster. Harry suddenly hears voices that no one else can hear, speaks in Parceltongue (snake language), and becomes the apparent center of the school's strange new goings on. Is he the true heir to Slytherin, and is he responsible for the petrifications and other bizarre activities of late?

More important than the plot, though, are the characters, most of the returning, some of them new. In addition to Harry and his Muggle relatives, Harry's friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) return to keep him company on his adventures. Hermione is sweeter and more charming than before, but Ron's whining begins to grate. Professor Albus Dumbledore returns, again played by Richard Harris (in one of his final screen appearances before his passing). Professor Minerva McGonagall also returns, again played by Dame Maggie Smith; plus the lovable giant, Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane); the not-so-lovable Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton); everybody's favorite ghost, Nearly Headless Nick (John Cleese); and the slimy Professor Snape (Alan Rickman).

New characters to the cast are the phony, egotistical, and ingratiating Professor Gilderoy Lockhart (flamboyantly played by Kenneth Branagh in a part the producers originally scheduled for Hugh Grant; I'm sure Grant would have been fine, too, but Branagh is a delight), who has filled a book "Magical Me" with personal exploits he didn't do; Draco's odious father, Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs); an often befuddled herbalist, Madam Sprout (Miriam Margolyes); a misunderstood spirit no one wants around, Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson); and a mysterious former Hogwarts student, Tom Riddle (Christian Coulson). But maybe the most memorable character of all is not a role played by a human at all; it's Dobby the House Elf, a computer-animated creation much like Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings." He's a so-ugly-he's-cute kind of fellow voiced by Toby Jones, who warns Harry not to come back to Hogwarts and thereafter appears to be up to more mischief than good. But give him a chance.

Moreover, not only do the characters make the film a pleasure to watch, so do the visual treats. In an oversight of monumental proportions, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences failed even to nominate the film for its special effects, but audiences can relish them forever in high definition. Savor not only the film's incredible visions of Hogwarts, with its amazing staircases and moving portraits, but enjoy the sights of a flying Ford Anglia, an angry Womping Willow tree, some fractious mandrake plants, a rigged Quidditch match (very exciting but thrown in rather extraneously), a regenerating Phoenix, and a Dark Forest (reminiscent of the one designed over sixty-five years earlier for "The Bride of Frankenstein") filled with really creepy spiders, among other things.

Once more the Potter fantasies provide a multitude of enchantments, although I still think "The Chamber of Secrets" is too long at 161 minutes for its own good. Director Chris Columbus moves things along at a comfortable if sometimes pedestrian pace, and the plot and characters provide the cozy feeling of a favorite easy chair. It's hard not to like this film despite its minor shortcomings.

Technical Review and Closing Comments by Dean Winkelspecht:

Video:

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is given the same technical treatment as the rest of the films in the series. Its 2.40:1 framed picture is mastered with Microsoft's VC-1 codec at 1080p. The film improves over the visual quality of the first film in the series and is on par with the third and fourth movies. Visuals are striking and strong and show improved detail and coloring than what was shown with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The level of detail is far stronger and shows how Daniel Radcliffe has aged and ever element in the film show's deeper textures and imagery. You can almost feel the rocky textures of the stone walls of Hogwarts. Coloring is very much improved as well and the previously washed out palette has been replaced with bright and vibrant colors. Flesh tones are warmer, and reds, greens and blues are all brighter and show better saturation. Black levels are also improved, with far stronger shadow detail. There is still a little grain present in the film, but it is nowhere near as prevalent as it was with the first movie. Source materials are clean and no flaws from the original print used for the transfer and the digital process did not harm to the movie either.

Audio:

Warner Bros. continues using Uncompressed PCM 5.1 for the Blu-ray releases of the Harry Potter films and in addition to that high bitrate soundtrack, a plethora of other language choices are provided: English Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1. A language for almost everybody! The soundtrack of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is far more aggressive than what was heard in the first film and the battle against the Basilisk is enveloping and strong. Rear surrounds are used convincingly and helps create a full 360 degree experience while watching the movie. The low frequency effects channel is again strong and I found the film's Quidditch matches to be another high point in a Harry Potter film. John Williams returned for the second film and his score is again warm and entertaining; nicely adding to the overall experience of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Dialogue is again strong and I found this second film to be a solid improvement and a very good sounding disc.

Extras:

The second Harry Potter film found another similar treatment when compared to the original 2-Disc "Widescreen Edition" DVD. The animated puzzles, screensavers, animated timeline and other playful parts from the PC DVD-ROM functionality are now absent from the Blu-ray release. Whereas the first film contained added deleted scenes, the second film had the advertised 19 Additional/Extended Scenes (16:25) on the DVD and now on the Blu-ray release. This time around, the nineteen scenes were only numbered and with no short synopsis about their contents. A "Play All" is also provided. This is another case where the scenes are entertaining, but the film didn't need to be any longer than its already long length. The newly added Year One At Hogwarts (1:54) was a short reminder of the plot from the first film and feels very much like a long trailer, which the Theatrical Trailer for the second film is contained on the Blu-ray release. Only the interactive menu based materials from the second film seem to be missing from the Blu-ray such as the self-guided tours.

The difficult to read menu features a Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves (16:09) finds J.K. Rowling talking about her novel and how she and screenwriter Steve Kloves worked together to create the film adaptation of the second novel. They talk about changes made to deliver the story to the big screen and this was interesting to hear how things are altered from the book. The two are interviewed by a mediator and this is a nice little segment. The next segment, Lockhart's Classroom (1:28) is split into two pieces, Certificates and Required Reading. This is a short feature that looks at the certificates and books created for the film to help build the Professor Gilderoy Lockhart character and helped add to the notoriety of the supposedly famous magician. This piece was all fluff, but the books were funny sounding. The Behind Hogwarts: Building a Scene (17:20) looked at the creation of Dumbledore's office from beginning to end. This featured a number of talking heads interviews and I found this a nice little making of feature that showed a scene from script to film.

The "Interviews with Students, Professors and More" section is a slightly interactive section that allows the viewer to select questions and then hear characters from the film answer the question. The Students (8:13) found seven questions asked to the children who played the students of Hogwarts and the answers were given with short film clips and interviewed moments with the child actors. The best way to watch this supplement was to use the "Play All." The Professors and More (9:42) found twelve actors talking about their roles as mentors to the young magicians of Hogwarts. These vignettes too could be played collectively or separately, with my recommendation of using the "Play All" to enjoy them. These interview segments were a little easier to navigate the second time around on the Blu-ray than they were on the more convoluted menus of the DVD release.

Closing Comments:

The second Harry Potter film is an improvement over the first film. With each successive Harry Potter film, the tone gets a little more adult and a little darker. Of course, the cast is aging and Harry is getting wiser to the world. While I didn't feel the second film's storyline was as impressive, it was still better than average. "Harry Potter" is a rare franchise where the sequels are good films and can stand on their own, but watching the series as a whole makes for a better experience. The visual effects and sound effects were stronger and the Blu-ray release improves in these areas as well. The Uncompressed mix is quite stellar and I found visuals were bright and detailed. Supplements are much of the same as the first film. They are good, but not overly incredible. The supplements give a nice look into the making of a Harry Potter film and fans will definitely be entertained. I was hoping for high definition supplements, or something new for the Harry Potter films, but this is another port of the original DVD release. The second film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is a thrillride and an improvement over the first film's Blu-ray. It is a must have for any hopeful sorcerer.