Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Harry ignores warnings not to return to Hogwarts, only to find the school plagued by a series of mysterious attacks and a strange voice haunting him.

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writers:

J.K. Rowling (novel), Steve Kloves (screenplay)

Stars:

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 10 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Radcliffe	...	Harry Potter
Rupert Grint	...	Ron Weasley
Emma Watson	...	Hermione Granger
Richard Griffiths	...	Uncle Vernon Dursley
Fiona Shaw	...	Aunt Petunia Dursley
Harry Melling	...	Dudley Dursley
Toby Jones	...	Dobby the House Elf (voice)
Jim Norton	...	Mr. Mason
Veronica Clifford	...	Mrs. Mason
James Phelps	...	Fred Weasley
Oliver Phelps	...	George Weasley
Julie Walters	...	Molly Weasley (voice)
Bonnie Wright	...	Ginny Weasley
Mark Williams	...	Arthur Weasley
Chris Rankin	...	Percy Weasley

Storyline

Forced to spend his summer holidays with his muggle relations, Harry Potter gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby the house-elf, who warns Harry Potter against returning to Hogwarts, for terrible things are going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and continues with his pre-arranged schedule. But at Hogwarts, strange and terrible things are indeed happening: Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, muggle-born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on his/her guard - "The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware" .

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Plot Keywords:

wizardry | flying car | monster | diary | elf | 

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Taglines:

Hogwarts is back in session.

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for scary moments, some creature violence and mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Italy]

Country:

USA UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harry Potter y la cámara secreta

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$138,023 (Norway) (3 January 2003)

Gross:

$261,970,615 (USA) (11 April 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

1492 Pictures, Heyday Films, MIRACLE Productions GmbH & Co. KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

161 min 174 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On an episode of Have I Got News for You broadcast around this film's release, the panelists discuss an article claiming that the Russian President (later Premier) Vladimir Putin was deeply disturbed and offended that Dobby the House elf seemed to have been created in his image. There is an undeniable resemblance either way.

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Goofs

When the boys arrive at the Weasley's house after rescuing Harry, we see a shot of the magic clock that shows Fred, George, and Ron's hands moving to the 'home' position. Molly, Percy and Ginny are all home, yet their hands are not at the 'home' position.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Hedwig wants to be let out of her cage]
Harry: I can't let you out, Hedwig! I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school. Besides, if Uncle Vernon...
Uncle Vernon: [yells] Harry Potter!
Harry: Now you've done it.

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Crazy Credits

The character "Mr Borgin" is listed in the end credits although he does not appear in the movie. He appears in two additional scenes on the DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in 2003 MTV Movie Awards (2003)

User Reviews

Back to school, Mr. Potter: a superior second installment

Having done a good job with the first Harry Potter flick, one shouldn't be surprised Chris Columbus was asked to direct the sequel as well. And the second film actually improves on its predecessor, getting a little edgier and less children-friendly (two factors that raise exponentially with each new installment), even though it does repeat an old mistake in certain places.

So, what about the plot? Well, it's Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) second year at Hogwarts, and everything should be fine, given he defeated Voldemort in the previous film and there are no other threats lurking in the magical world. Or are there? A mysterious house elf named Dobby seems to think so, as he repeatedly tries to prevent Harry from returning to school and keeps asking him to leave when students start being attacked by a supernatural, unknown foe. All this seems to be connected to the Chamber of Secrets, but that isn't of much help, especially considering the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, famous writer Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), is a complete idiot.

Darker and faster, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets repeats the Philosopher's Stone's mistake of being slightly too faithful to the literary source, but Columbus manages to compensate this flaw with better visuals, some really creepy set-ups and improved acting from the younger cast members (Emma Watson in particular). He has also made interesting choices when it comes to the new faces in the adult group: Branagh is very, very funny as the ego-fueled Lockhart (a role originally intended for Hugh Grant), but the most interesting addition is Jason Isaacs (whom I can't wait to see again in the fourth film) as Lucius Malfoy, an intriguingly sinister wizard who is as racist and arrogant as his son, Harry's arch-nemesis Draco. As for Dobby, a CG creature voiced by Toby Jones, he is interesting at first but rapidly becomes annoying, his masochistic antics being repetitive and a little dull.

Finally, a special mention for Chamber's best element: Richard Harris, who sadly passed away a few weeks before the movie's premiere. He was, and is, incredibly good as headmaster Dumbledore and despite a worthy replacement (Michael Gambon), in the purists' hearts he will always be the one and only greatest wizard of all time.

Verdict: good, but they could have done better. Thankfully, they did with number three...