Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

[Mark]

I found it to be a bit choppy, plot-wise, for the same reasons mentioned above (car, spiders, lack of interest from the instructors, etc.) Definitely darker than the first, but as someone who did not read the books, I had fewer times during the first movie where I was wondering why something was happening (and not being answered by the film.)

2004 for the next release? And they have a fourth movie planned? For 2006, perhaps? Those kids are going to grow a bit before then...

 

[Crothian]

I totally agree the Chamber of Secrets was not the best made movie. I really think they aimed this at the people who read the book, and not people new to Harry Potter.

The teachers have always been passive in their teaching methods allowing the students to do some expermenting and get injuried. They seem to trust the healing powers of magic.

 

[Samnell]

well if I remember correctly from the book the professor teaching how to Duel was either Lockhart or Snape. Lockhart is a total idiot and Snape probably almost wants to see someone get hurt.

Both, actually. The duelling club seemed to be Lockhart's idea mainly, but Snape came along as his "assistant". Probably just for a chance to blast him in front of the students.

Hogwart's teachers are typically very cavalier about student injury, though. Madame Pomfrey seems to be able to fix anything shy of death. She describes broken bones as taking a minute to fix. When a student is in the Hospital for more than a day, it's probably something a lot more serious than an arm-deboning.

There is genuine concern on the part of the staff in regards to more serious issues. The Basilisk from the Chamber is considered a dire threat and the school nearly closes over serial petrifications with the possibility for a fatality. Hogwarts is locked down even more seriously in the third book when an escaped murderer is known to be nearby.

There's also the restricted section in the library where students can't read without a teacher's note to permit it. That's where really dangerous works are kept, excepting times when certain young Gryffindors abscond with them. I suspect that certain potion ingredients are kept secured in Snape's office instead of in the open stores for similar reasons.

In the fourth book, age restrictions are placed on a tournament to prevent untrained young wizards from getting killed. So they're not totally heartless (though I do wonder about Snape...) but simple physical injury seems to be trivial to them.

 

[Mistwell]

In addition, I believe the books mention some kids die on rare occassion while playing "broom rugby", as someone just called it. The school is dangerous, more so than most schools.

 

[Samnell]

Quidditch deaths are supposed to be quite rare, but referees have been known to go missing for months to turn up later in the middle of the Sahara. I suspect serious bodily injury is common, though.

 

[reapersaurus]

umm... this movie sucked.

These opinions are coming from a couple who have not read the books, but appreciated the fantasy elements of the first movie.

KnowtheToe and others have only mentioned a couple of the HUGE problems the 2nd movie has, but those only scratch the surface.

Our guess is that they are now glossing over many areas of the book that are required for understanding WEHY things happen in the movie.
that is unfortunate, though expected.
Many movies do this with popular books.
It's disappointing that they accomplished this tough task (not requiring the reading of the book to enjoy/understand the movie) with the first, but not the 2nd.

I'll quote Crothian, I think first:

It did seem a little rushed, I wish the movie was longer. The thing I disliked was the flying car when Harry and Ron where trying to get to the school. They found themselves in front of the train and Harry almost feel out. It seemed pointless as it really didn't help the story and there realyl was no tension in that scene. I also think they should have explained the car when it acted on its own to save Harry and Ron from the Spiders. That doesn't make any sense from just watching the movie.

ya, it seemed rushed, and interminably long at the same time.
This movie was over 2 1/2 hours long!! I was shocked, and after an hour and a quarter, it was seeming long to my wife.

The beginning scene with the car was totally unneccessary to the story.
It detracted immediately from the film.
If they had brain one in their heads, they never would have been in danger from the train.

And the car-as-deus-ex-machina I could not BELIEVE!
I was literally jaw-dropping shocked that they brought that stupid CAR in to save them after filming themselves into a corner with the spiders.

And the spiders!!
Oh my goodness, was that a HUGE mistake.
I don't know ehere to begin with that problem, so I'll leave that to the obvious problems it presents.

Moving on, the charlatan instructor (briilliantly played by Branagh) was a big problem over time.
Not only was he incompetent as an instructor (why would they have hired this man??!!), but he was evil as well.
He mind-wiped other wizards who he stole the stories from, and would have done so to the kids??

But he was stupid enough to call out a real wizard (Snape) for the duel so that he could get his butt kicked?
That whole scene was flawed.
Seriuously flawed to the point that I don't understand how anybody can miss these.

Maybe reading the book makes it all different, but when talking about a FILM, you should always be commenting on what they put on screeen, not what was written on the page in the book.

And there's more problems i don't have time for:
--- having a Ghost - Moaning Myrtle - be so annoying that they have to shut down parts of the school
-- having the Basilisk be so large, yet noone saw/heard it moving around other than Harry?
-- the stupid cursed-ball destroying major parts of the schholgrounds, probably killing multiple students if they were realistic, yet the 2nd year student has power to stop it??!! WTF??

many more, but those are the problems which threw me and my wife coimpletely out of enjoying the wonder of the fantasy elements they included, and started making us ask, "Why are those elements there?"

 

[KnowTheToe]

Where I am truely surprised is how many adults have read and liked the books. The books may be good, but these movies do not motivate me to read them. These movies seem the same level as the Goonies, but instead of pirates, it is wizards.

 

[Samnell]

Where I am truely surprised is how many adults have read and liked the books.

The books are amazing. You get what Rowling means when she says she's not writing for some imaginary eight year old audience. Not so much in the first two, but the second... The more adult stuff in the third is easy to miss, but when you realize that Harry and Lupin in particular are very serious about what they intend to do, it's a different story. Very human and un-sanitized.

 

[Crothian]

And there's more problems i don't have time for:
--- having a Ghost - Moaning Myrtle - be so annoying that they have to shut down parts of the school
-- having the Basilisk be so large, yet noone saw/heard it moving around other than Harry?
-- the stupid cursed-ball destroying major parts of the schholgrounds, probably killing multiple students if they were realistic, yet the 2nd year student has power to stop it??!! WTF??

Well, Parts of the school weren't closed down because of Myrtle, it's just no one went into the lavatory she haunts.

Baskilisks/snakes are pretty quiet, even the large one. I havea friend who had a 14 foot python, it was soundless.

The cursed ball never went through the crowds, the area it went through was places no one could be. That whole area was the stadium and there are many parts were no one is. And anyone could have stopped it, but not during the game. That would be like destroying the baseball when it was in play.

 

[Samnell]

Baskilisks/snakes are pretty quiet, even the large one. I havea friend who had a 14 foot python, it was soundless. [/B]

The basilisk also got a size increase for the movie. The scene where they find the shed skin in the book has Harry estimating it was 20 feet long. In the movie, iirc, it was sixty feet long.

I would not have noticed that if not for having read the passage in the book about a day after my second time watching the movie.