FILM THOUGHTS: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Posted by Alyce on

I’ve finally watched the second installment in the Harry Potter series, so here are my thoughts on the adaptation!

THE GOOD: 



The flying car:

In the books, they only really travel with the flying car – I thought the tension that they added to this scene, with Harry dangling out of the passenger side, was a brilliant addition.
Mandrakes:

The baby Mandrakes were so much creepier than I’d imagined them to be, which makes them much better in my eyes!



Errol:

If I was an owl, I’d definitely be Errol. 

Colin:

He’s so adorable, so the fact that Harry is really rude to him all the time makes me supremely angry. 


“Master has given Dobby a sock!”

It’s so much better to watch this scene than read it. 
THE BAD:

Knockturn Alley:
When Harry used the Floo Powder and pronounced Diagon Alley wrong, he still ended up in Borgin and Burkes, but he didn’t encounter the Malfoys there… It made the entire scene a bit pointless. 
Gilderoy Lockhart:

I’m just not sure on this casting… I feel as thought Gilderoy should look utterly competent, just so it’s even more shocking when he’s useless!

Moaning Myrtle:

I feel sorry for Myrtle in the book, but she’s so freaking annoying in the film. I can definitely understand why no one wants to visit her bathroom!

There was definitely more good than bad about this adaptation, but I found the first half an hour of it so slow that it’s taken me nearly three months to bring myself to finish it… So that means it’s definitely not as good as the first film in my mind.
At least now I can move on to reading Prisoner of Azkaban – I’m hoping I’ll enjoy that film more!