Chamber of Secrets

Janis has already written a review that shares several of my perceptions, I almost hesitated to add anything of my own. But I'll try. I'll also try to not actually spoil, or much.

1. I loved Professor Sprout and the mandrake babies.

2. Quite possibly, and I know this is silly, my favorite part of the movie may have been the 2-cart pileup when Ron and Harry couldn't get to the platform. There was just something so, so perfect about it. The way everything goes flying and attracts Muggle attention. It's just one of those little moments to treasure.

3. Gilderoy Lockhart -- Kenneth, you were perfectly cast and perfectly played. Thank you. And thank you to the costume department! His outfits! In fact, well I've got that a number of its own, farther down.

4. I'm somewhere between Ron and Harry's reactions to spiders, and I just loved Ron's escalation of fear during their traipse through the Forbidden Forest.

5. Polyjuice Potion.

6. Costuming. Harry, having access to money after a fashion now, still dresses pretty dowdy as a Muggle, but it fits better. Quite appropriate. Every knitter I know is dying to do some of the work seen ALL OVER THE PLACE in these movies. Mrs. Weasley's outfit -- the crochet sleeves when we first see her, perfect, the little froth of whatever at her throat when she was in robes, everything she wears and does places her so perfectly as Molly Weasley it is really a joy to see her anytime she's onscreen. (I am overjoyed that we get to see more of all the Weasleys as a rule, as the books go on.)

7. The Howler!! God, I loved it, including the polite aside to Harry and the message to Ginny.

8. Ron and Hermione at the end. Nice foreshadowing.

Some more general remarks:

1. The effects really stayed in the background this time -- not dull, just in the background. I'm kind of subtly amazed by that. See, the first movie [Sorcerer's Stone, or Philosopher's Stone, depending on your locale], just like the first book, spent a lot of time introducing the world to you, through introducing it to Harry. You expect a lot of gee-whiz moments, and rightly so. Now that we've been around a year, it's natural to take things for granted that were stunning and in the front of our minds when we first saw them. However, in movieland, it's very easy for sequels to fall into the "bigger, better, faster" trap. It is a pleasure to find that Secrets did not. Must be the distance from Hollywood. In addition, the CGI work was really natural and seamless. Nothing irritating leapt out at me.

2. Keeping the character's voices while they're transmogrified -- and thus actually played by others -- was absolutely inspired. It really keeps you aware as a viewer that you're still watching Our Heroes. Very, very finely tuned choice on that.

3. As a fan, I want to point out something before people get worked up about it. Two things, actually. One is that actors frequently play ages other than their own, and since Rowling says little on so-n-so suffering growing pains in any particular book or anything, there's no canonical reason Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, and the rest of the gang can't play these characters all the way through 7 films worth of books, spanning their school years. Shit, Hollywood has us watching people in their mid-20s play high schoolers all the time. So, don't go thinking you have to recast anyone just because they're gotten tall and gangly, or that they'll be 22 by the time they're playing some of age 17. Not a problem. Please. Please don't think you have to changing a winning team on my account. Number two is that it is very difficult for an actor to play the same person for years on end. Movie-making is grueling, and making 7 Harry Potter movies [assuming Rowling does write 7 books, one for each year], however exciting an experience, will also be a harsh one. I hope as many of the original cast as possible keep coming back -- I want the visual continuity of seeing the same people, and I love this group of actors -- but I can't scream my head off if someone were to decide at some point to walk away. For the record, I'm not responding to any rumors of recasting or actors not coming back for something, this is just related to a couple pet peeves I have about American perceptions of actors.

Hm! Guess I had some original remarks to make after all.