Hey folks, Harry here with the AICN staffer that actually gets all the missing pieces in the movie that are apparently in the books. For you folks, screaming at me to read the books, I will... just not till after the film series is over. Every other major contributor at AICN has read the books, and we don't have someone on staff, other than me that is approaching these movies as movies first, book adaptations second. I've heard the explanations for what is going on at the end of this film and the last film, the explanations about why Harry wouldn't loan Ron the money for a fixed up wand... However, these things are not handled in the film... not addressed as subtext and are flaws with the film in terms of bringing it all to light. HOWEVER, for you readers, the book is the film's crutch for it to lean on. However, great adaptations don't need crutches for plot holes in my opinion. This latest Potter film is fantastic, and my nitpicks are NITPICKS on an otherwise sterling film. Here's Quint's view....
Ahoy squirts! Quint here with my look at HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS. This review's a little late as I saw the film last Sunday. I wanted to get this review up and out pretty quickly, but I ended up in Chicago immediately after the screening, hanging out on the set of Robert Altman's new flick, THE COMPANY, and spending all my time either sleeping, warding off a bitch of a cold or watching the awesome Malcolm McDowell and the beautiful Neve Campbell do their thing, guided by one of cinema's greatest directors... But more on that sometime in the next week... On to Potter!
Quickly, I'm a huge Harry Potter nut. I caught on pretty late in the game, though. About a year and a half ago I was contacted about interviewing a screenwriter by the name of Steven Kloves during the quiet re-release and Golden Globe push of a damn good film he wrote called WONDERBOYS. A quick visit to IMDb showed that he was writing the screenplay for the first Harry Potter film. Knowing what a big deal this whole Harry Potter phenomenon was, I quickly grabbed the first two books from my little brother about a week before I was scheduled to talk with Mr. Kloves.
I had kinda lumped Harry Potter in with Pokemon... A kid's thing. Couldn't be nearly as cool as The Worst Witch (the original cable movie starring Tim Curry and Fairuza Balk, not that shitty series on Showtime), I thought. Well, I started reading Book 1 six or seven days before the interview and by the time I was conducting the interview I was halfway through Book 3, with the newly purchased GOBLET OF FIRE sitting on the kitchen table, waiting to be read. It totally sucked me in. The interview is probably one of the best I've done... It kinda comes off a mutual geekout over the books, the upcoming film, everything Harry Potter. (read it here!!!http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=8111)
I really, really dug the first film. It was slow, yes, but I never found it boring. I loved the cast. Some of the effects were a bit shoddy, but at least they had personality. I was disappointed at the lack of character and plot detail... The missing small touches that would have made the ending come off a lot less corny and sappy, but overall I felt there was a kind of magic captured with the movie.
CHAMBER OF SECRETS was one of my favorites of the books. Now, that's a personal choice of mine, which I don't expect to be shared by too many others. I think AZKABAN is the BEST book from beginning to end and I think the last 75 pages of GOBLET OF FIRE is hands down the best material in the whole series, but being a horror junkie, I had to love how CHAMBER OF SECRETS read like a horror film. It's a monster movie, no doubt.
So that's how I entered into this movie, my level of expectation was high indeed. From beginning to end, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS is a better film than HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S/PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, but I also think some of the magic from the first film is gone. Some of the awe and wonder and giddy excitement is gone. It could be that we are already familiar totally with the world it takes place in, we've already met damn near all the characters... We know what Hogwarts looks like... Hell, I could have just been tired when I was watching the movie... It could be all or none of those things... Whatever reason, that feeling is not as powerful as it was in the first film.
That being so, the movie flows very well and has some geekastic sequences, including my favorite scene out of both films so far: Snape vs. Lockhart at the dueling club. You'll know it when you see it. That scene is the reason you have Alan Rickman in the movie. Period.
Speaking of Lockhart, Kenneth Branagh damn near steals the show as new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Now, I still stand firm in my belief that if this film had been made in the '80s or early '90s, there would have been no one better to play Lockhart than Tim Curry. Alas, Curry has grown too old for the role, but Branagh steps into the role marvelously, giving an unforgettable, hilarious performance. Just look at the big painting of himself at the front of the class... Classic!
Also new to the cast is Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy who turns in a terribly cold, but great villainous performance. He's got a great look, that of long, straight silver hair and totally black clothes... not to mention the icy stare and snarl that always seems to be breaking out. Although I had always thought of Tim Roth when reading about the dirty deeds of Lucius Malfoy, Isaacs has made me change my mind. That's quite alright, though. That just leaves Roth open to play Voldemort in the next few films. hehe
Now on to Dobby, the self abusing, totally CG house elf. I've been hearing lots of comparisons with Jar Jar and I have to say... the comparisons are not totally off base. HOLD ON!!! I don't mean in a character way. As a character, Dobby is awesome and perfectly voiced by Toby Jones who strikes a great pathetic, yet lovable tone. How Dobby compares to Jar Jar is only in how he's animated. He suffers a bit from being a little over animated. He always has to be doing something. He can't have any quiet moments. It does fit his character a bit, which is why it doesn't really bug me, but while that may be true it's also a trap that a lot of CG characters, including Mr. Binks, fall into. So, while it can be passed off as part of Dobby's character, it's still a bit distracting... Plus the pillowcase he wears is pretty terribly animated, much like Jar Jar's clothes in the prequels... It doesn't look like fabric, doesn't move like fabric. That being said, I love Dobby as a character. I did while reading the book and do so even more after seeing the movie. My problem with the animation is very small in the whole scheme of things. They got the character right, that's what's important.
Speaking of getting the character right, we also have Shirley Henderson perfectly realizing Moaning Myrtle. Actually, she kind of plays her creepier than I had imagined. Good job, lady! Christian Coulson also does a fine job as Tom Riddle, a small, but key character in the film. It's a difficult role, one with lots of exposition and he did the best job he could with it.
The main 3, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are just as good as they were in the first film, although Radcliffe seems to be acting a bit more self-aware this time out and has a few scenes where it seems he's trying a bit too hard. Grint is awesome as Ron again. He brings the same level of humor and kindness he did the first time out. Emma Watson likewise reprises her role of book-smart Hermione Granger with great ease... And damn if she isn't growing up. Mark my words, by the time Goblet of Fire is shooting, she'll be illegally lusted after with a fervor close to that which surrounded Natalie Portman in the time between LEON and THE PHANTOM MENACE.
There's a great scene in the film I have to spotlight before I move on that features the above three... It comes at the end of the film, after the climax battle... It's a reunion of the three leads and the way they react to each other is perfect. Without a word spoken, their friendships are shown to us... Harry's relationship with Hermione is much different than Ron's relationship with Hermione and that difference is captured perfectly in this one scene in the Great Hall at the very end of the film.
One of the things that I really dug about CHAMBER OF SECRETS was how they brought back every little character from the first film. If you've had a line or were on screen for more than 2 seconds, you're back in the next film! I really like that. It helps to bring you back into Harry Potter's world when not only are the main actors reprising their roles, but seemingly everyone is back. This is one of the main reasons why I've been disappointed by the rumor that Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint might be leaving the series after GOBLET OF FIRE. What really got me excited about the idea of doing the Harry Potter books as movies was that we'd have the kind of continuity we don't get too often with series like this.
They found the perfect kids for these roles. They might not be the best actors in the world, but they're certainly far from the worst. No matter what Radcliffe IS Harry Potter. Watson IS Hermione Granger. Rupert Grint IS Ron Weasley. Warner Brothers... You've successfully set up your world. Don't fuck it up because you get too stingy with the actors. It's one thing to have to recast Dumbledore because of Richard Harris' passing, but I'm telling you studio people... Do whatever it takes to keep these kids coming back.
OK... that was a bit of tangent... Sorry, I'm a bit high off all the cold medicine I've been taking recently, forgive this rambling review... I guess I really just have to say that my only problem with the movie is the same problem I had with the first one, the missing details that make the books so great. I realize you can't fit everything from the book into the movie. I don't want that. But as it stands right now, CHAMBER OF SECRETS does come off a little rushed. It seems like they keep jumping from plot point to plot point to plot point, not slowing down enough to give us a really good look at the characters. The dialogue comes off a bit rushed, also, like Chris Columbus was holding a stopwatch behind the camera, making sure they rapid-fired off some of this dialogue to fit it all in.
At any rate, while I think Columbus did a great job in setting up the series, I'm very relieved he's bowing out of the director's chair. I think this next film is a crucial point and needs that new blood behind the camera. I think Alfonso Cuaron will bring a different approach to the series, which I think will keep the films alive and electric. He has his hands full with the next film, though. A lot of eyes are going to be on him and fans will rip him apart if he fails... But they'll also lift him up and proclaim him King of the Universe if he pulls it off.
Since this has been just an over the counter drug induced scatterbrained review, I think I'll go ahead and wrap it up... As a fan of the series I highly recommend this film, but I miss the character beats and some plot detail from the books. Alan Rickman is still criminally underused, but that'll change with the next few films, hopefully... Branagh and Isaacs are great, fresh new additions to the series, Aragog kicks ass, Fawkes is cool as hell and the Basilisk is pretty damn neat, too. Again, I think CHAMBER OF SECRETS is a better overall film than SORCERER'S STONE, but it suffers from the same lack of detail the first film did. I'd recommend this film to anyone with kids or anyone who's still a kid at heart.
So, for the next film... For you fans of the books... I say Ewan McGregor for Professor Lupin (easily one of my favorite characters in all the books), Jude Law as Sirius Black (he can look emaciated and creepy, but can also play kind... Just age him up a bit and he's a shoe in) and I guess either Ian McKellan or an unknown for Dumbledore... What do you guys think? Looking even further ahead, who could play Mad Eye Moody? How about Peter Jackson? Not British, but he has an accent, so it counts... right?
-Quint
