I just got in from seeing Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets (twice
*cough*) and WOW!! It was <i>wonderful</i>!! Just fabulous. I was blown
away, and my expectations were pretty high after the wonderful first film.
So, what follows is my accounts of the movie, taken from my memories and
the few notes I managed to scribble down in my notebook between filmings.
Mostly diconnected ramblings of what I liked/didn't, though I've tried to
get it into some semblance of order. :)
SP
OI
LE
RS
You
Have
Been
Warned! ;)
The film starts with a panorama of Little Whinging, where every house
looks exactly the same, stacked right up next to each other in a true
example of British suburbia where everyone wants to be just like everyone
else, except maybe just a little bit better. We look in the window of one
house and see Harry flipping through a book. He has a sad little smile on
his face as he sees pictures of his parents ? from the album Hagrid gave
him at the end of last movie ? and him with his friends. I think this was
a wonderful way to open the movie. Very poignant. It switches straight
into a quick explanation that he's not allowed to use magic or his owl,
then he's getting yelled at downstairs by his aunt and uncle as they
prepare for a big dinner party. I think Harry's facial and vocal
expression when he says, "I'll be in my room, making no noise and
pretending I don't exist," was just perfect, as was the way the Dursleys
all pulled together in a united front in front of the magic freak. BTW,
the dessert Petunia made was absolutely <i>perfect</i>! It was JUST the
kind of pretentious, overly-ambitious dessert I could see her making.
Then we get to meet Dobby the house elf. A quick word about Harry's room
? what was with all the Hogwarts paraphenalia scattered around? His
Quidditch robes were in the wardrobe, there was a Gryffindor badge and a
drawing of an owl on the door, a school tie draped across the bulletin
board, and magical texts scattered around. It didn't look at all like
Dudley's spare bedroom, and takes something away from Harry only being
allowed his stuff when he threatens the Dursleys with his ex-con
godfather. Anyway, despite some reservations when I first saw the CGI, I
have to admit that Dobby's grown on me. He came across much more
endearingly than I thought he would've from the commercials.
Next, the big Weasley rescue scene! Vernon falling right out of the
window was a cute touch, though I still wish Harry'd called out the
window, "See you next summer!" like in the book. The Burrow looked JUST
like I pictured it would, all ramshackle and barely held together. It
clearly was in the middle of nowhere, though, not near a village. We got
to see both the Weasley family clocks, personal favorites of mine. The
task clock was hanging over the door where they came in, and we got to see
a nice close-up of the tracking clock. Pictures on the hands instead of
names was a nice addition, especially the looks on the boys' faces! *g*
(Although shouldn't Molly, Ginny, and Percy's hands also have been at
"home"?) I loved the boys nicking food off the table ("Mum'll never
know"), then trying to hide them when Molly comes storming in. Molly was
cute, switching back and forth between screaming at her sons and welcoming
Harry (later echoed in the Howler, which I thought was hysterical!).
Ginny's reaction when she finally noticed Harry sitting there was SO cute
and SO 11 year old girl with a crush. *g* Arthur also amused me, from his
surprise at seeing Harry to his reaction to hearing the boys flew the car.
I didn't think his looks were quite right, but his reactions were
spot-on.
All the Weasleys arrayed in their cloacks in front of the fire was a nice
contrast to the Muggle life Harry just left behind. I still don't see why
Harry mispronounced Diagon Alley, since he'd <i>just</i> heard Ron say it
quite clearly, and I missed the Malfoys at Borkin's shop. The echo back
to Hermione's first meeting with Harry and subsequent repair of his
glasses was quite cute as well. I laughed when Molly swatted Ron when he
said she fancied Lockhart, very adorable. In fact, the little swoonings
of all available women whenever Lockhart was around throughout the movie
was perfect. (The girls fighting over his cape at the dueling club, lol!)
Something seemed just a little off about Draco when he came on the screen.
I think that the problem is he got a little taller and his voice changed,
but his FACE didn't. So it looks like a baby-face Draco with a grown-up
voice. Very odd.
I think I could devote an entire post to Lucius. He was just so
delightfully <i>evil</i>! Sent shivers down my spine every time he was on
screen. I think that Lucius is one of the important things from COS that
will be playing a role in later books. He was mentioned so many times in
the book ? "Is that Lucius Malfoy's son?" ? and played such a delicious
role in the film. "Play nicely, Draco." Mmm.
Weasleys at the train station. Everyone running through the barrier so
casually was great, as was the spectacular crash into the wall by Harry
and Ron. Ron's rationale for taking the car was <i>almost</i> reasoned ?
if they couldn't get in, the others probably couldn't get out either. And
Harry's tense little, "Most Muggles aren't used to seeing a flying car,"
was perfect. Those boys really are a great comedy team, with Harry as the
classic straight man. The flying car scene was very fun, even though I'd
managed to see the whole thing in clips and previews anyway. I didn't
really care for the appearance of the Whomping Willow ? didn't look much
like a willow, did it? But the car flipping out and deciding to dump them
then and there was great. I also liked the little nod to thinking within
the story instead of just the scenes by showing Harry and Ron dumping
their things in a hallways with everyone else's things. The perfect nod
to nitpickers like me. *g*
I'm not sure what it was, but something about Snape kept throwing me off
in his office. His face just looked...odd. Dunno. But his office was
just perfect, exactly how I'd expect it to look. Dumbledore's office was
the same, when we got there. Potions or gadgets, the office clearly
reflects the man. *g* Assignment of detentions and then we move to the
greenhouses. I loved the look of the Mandrakes, though I didn't care for
them in the clips I saw. I wonder if there was some sort of special charm
on the earmuffs to block out the Mandrakes' cries but let them hear
Sprout, since she kept <i>talking</i> to the students after they were on!
Draco thinking the Mandrake was cute and tickling it was just adorable,
since that's just the sort of thing I can picture a Malfoy keeping around
the grounds. It biting his finger and Sprout's off-handed, "Oh well, just
leave him there," when Neville passed out was the perfect way to end the
scene.
Lockhart's first lesson was exactly as I imagined it. All his photos were
SO much more hysterical in visual than when I just read them, especially
the broom one Lockhart signed during detention! My favorite little touch
was Lockhart's little interplay with his own portrait ? hysterical! I
<i>loved</i> Neville's pathetic comment at the end, "Why is it always me?"
was SO cute! A few remarks about the Mudblood comment ? I don't think
everyone at the time looked upset enough about it, so Ron pulling out his
wand was a little odd. But the explanation of it later at Hagrid's was
great. I think it was very plausible that Hermione would've heard that
word at some point as a Muggleborn and it was clearly very hurtful to her.
It showed a much more human side to her, pairing off with her know-it-all
tendencies. Oh, and the slugs were <i>gross</i>! :)
How can I sum up the wonders of the Dueling Club? *sigh* It was
<i>fabulous</i>, from Lockhart's fencing costume to Snape's sour
please-lightning-strike-me-now expression as he joined Lockhart on stage.
I'm glad that they kept the "we'll be sending him up to hospital wing in a
matchbox" comment, even if it was switched to Harry and Ron from Seamus
and Neville, but I missed "let's split up the Dream Team." I have to say,
Harry's first demonstration of Parseltongue was really great. It was
eerie and it really made me see how everyone could believe Harry was
egging the snake on.
The Polyjuice scene was all very cute. Myrtle looked a little too nice,
IMO, and her voice was just ODD. Her developing crush on Harry was
adorable, though. The kids playing Crabbe and Goyle did a really good
job. The Slytherin common room looked surprisingly cozy ? I WANT one of
those chairs! Harry's unthinking defense of Dumbledore was a nice
precursor to the loyalty he shows in the Chamber. He managed to cover it
up, at least. Harry Potter's worse than Dumbledore, indeed! *g* As a
side note, Draco randomly stealing someone else's present lying around was
<i>too</i> cute for words.
Well, we didn't get to keep Gred and Forge's "Make way for the Heir of
Slytherin! Seriously evil wizard coming through!", but we got "Yeah, the
Hufflepuffs are all afraid Harry'll Petrify them if they fly too close to
him!" Good enough for me. :) Harry and Ron's expressions when they saw
Hermione were really heartbreaking. I loved it when they acknowledged at
the end that they really needed Hermione to help solve things. Very nice.
They go promptly to Hagrid's, of course, and wind up hiding under the
Invisibilty Cloak while Fudge shows up. I missed the lime green bowler
hat, but you can't have everything. It was terribly amusing the way both
Dumbledore and Hagrid gave their messages to the boys. Ron: "Why does it
have to be spiders? Why can't it be 'follow the butterflies'?" I HOWLED!
I think the Acromantula scene was even scarier than the Chamber itself,
personally. Poor Ron. He really showed his Gryffindor bravery by
following Harry in there, constantly complaining or not. Harry's forced
politeness when he's trying to end the conversation with Aragog was cute.
I liked the way they compressed Harry & Ron's whole revelation about
Myrtle and seeking McGonnagal ? saved time without sacrificing anything
important. Although they moved it out of the staffroom, Snape still got
to take down Lockhart! Woohoo! Poor Ron's expression when he heard it
was Ginny who disappeared. *sniff*
Everything heading down to the Chamber was <i>exactly</i> like I pictured,
down to Lockhart's memory loss. I cracked up when Ron casually clocked
him on the head with a rock again. :) I must say that Tom Riddle was
absolutely...chilling. He was such the perfect prefect in the diary
flashback, then just went eeeeeeeevil in the Chamber. Brr. His delivery
of the "Voldemort is my past, present, and future" was delicious, and I
have to disagree with the critic who said his spelling out the name
dragged out the scene badly. I think it just built up anticipation and
made it better. The extended battle with the basilisk was very well-done,
though I think they could have played up Harry's near death from the
basilisk poison, but oh well. Fawkes flying them all out was also
hysterical.
This is, um, exceptionally long, so I'll just stop with another mini-rave
about Lucius. He was so chilling when he met up with Harry and Dumbledore
again. I liked that Harry <i>hid</i> the sock in the diary so it was even
sneakier to free Dobby. I'm of two minds about Lucius' threat at the end
? he started to cast "Avada Kedavra" on Harry! On the one hand, it shows
just how ruthless he is. On the other hand, Lucius has always been a more
calculating villain than that. He warned Draco that it wouldn't be
prudent to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, so I don't see him being
so overt.
Anyway, I thought it was great. I'll just hush now. More raving to come
later. *g*
Andrea
=====
"Reality is for people who lack imagination."
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