Author: Abigail Cendana
Date: October 6, 2020
The Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film is full of exciting action and adventure, yet takes a dark turn from the first Harry Potter film. When Harry returns to Hogwarts, he realizes that something seems off. Hogwarts is not safe. There is something, or someone, that becomes a dangerous threat to some students. In this film, many interesting secrets are revealed about Hogwarts and its past. It is definitely not the best movie in the series, but I think it’s underrated compared to the other movies. A lot of Harry Potter fans agree that out of all of the movies, there wasn’t much about this film that stood out too much, and it was forgetful compared to the other movies. However, I still think it deserves more credit and recognition. I also appreciate how faithful this movie was to the book. The plot in the book matches up perfectly with the film, and most details from the book weren’t left out.
Towards the beginning of the movie, we meet Dobby, a house-elf who was sent to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts. He was sent by his master, Lucius Malfoy, who has a deep hatred towards him and does not want Harry to return. Not long after that, Harry’s friend Ron shows up with his brothers in a flying car to rescue him. They successfully escape with Harry. This scene is very iconic, and I would say that it has to be one of my favorite scenes throughout the movie. Seeing Harry reunite with his friends, not to mention on his birthday, was very uplifting and wholesome.
Throughout the movie, Harry and his friends break a lot of school rules, which made the film all the more exciting for me. An example of this is when Harry and Ron ended up taking the flying car to Hogwarts. Watching them drive to Hogwarts was a very action-packed yet also comedic scene. There were moments that were very suspenseful as well, such as when Harry nearly falls out of the flying car. What made this scene a little more comedic for me was seeing Ron’s facial expressions and his reactions to certain moments. Rupert Grint’s acting really lightened up the mood in some of the darker and more suspenseful parts of the movie.
Once Harry makes it to Hogwarts, Harry finds himself hearing strange voices in his head. He also finds strange messages and notices several incidents happening at the school. Harry and his friends find Mr. Filch’s cat petrified, along with a message written in blood that says, “The chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir…beware.” Later on, the students learn about the chamber of secrets and how it contains something very deadly and dangerous inside. This is where the movie takes a bit of a dark turn. The chamber contains a giant monster known as a basilisk. It is said that the basilisk can kill anyone who makes direct eye contact with it. This chamber was created by Salazar Slytherin, who disapproved of any muggle-borns attending Hogwarts. He used the chamber as a way to purge the area of muggle-born students.
After defeating the basilisk inside the chamber, Harry has a discussion with Dumbledore and talks about the sorting hat placing him into Gryffindor. Harry notices that he has a lot of qualities that make him fit to be a Slytherin, and he can also talk to snakes. Dumbledore tells him that Voldemort may have transferred some of his powers to him when he was attacked as a baby. Dumbledore then goes on to say that he was sorted into Gryffindor because he asked to be put into that house. I found this intriguing. Before I rewatched the movie, I didn’t realize that the sorting hat considers what house a student chooses to be in, instead of just basing it off of their qualities. He tells Harry, “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices.” This discussion with Dumbledore was also one of my favorite parts throughout the movie.
Overall, the Chamber of Secrets movie was very enjoyable. An aspect of the movie that stood out to me was the movie’s special effects. Several scenes that display this are the Quidditch match, Dobby’s animation, and the basilisk scene. The special effects in this movie are much better compared to the first film. The Quidditch scene in particular really caught my eye. It looked amazing and it was very suspenseful watching Harry avoid the bludger chasing after him. Also, a lot of the action scenes are very well-done in this movie. The scene where Harry faces Tom Riddle and defeats the basilisk was incredible and left me amazed. In my opinion, this Harry Potter film is definitely underrated compared to the other films and deserves more recognition.
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