Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Directed by Chris Columbus, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets follows Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they attempt to solve a mystery involving the title locale. Filmmaker Columbus, working from Steve Kloves’ screenplay, delivers a watchable (and impressively faithful) adaptation that never quite becomes as captivating or engrossing as one might’ve hoped, as the movie, which runs an excessive 161 minutes, has been infused with an episodic, meandering feel that generally prevents the viewer from wholeheartedly connecting to the material – with the distressing lack of momentum ensuring that the picture ultimately only enthralls in fits and starts. There’s little doubt, then, that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets‘ mild success is due predominantly to its striking atmosphere and proliferation of above-average performances, and it’s clear, too, that Columbus has admittedly peppered the proceedings with a handful of standout sequences that effectively buoy the viewer’s far-from-rapt interest on a fairly frequent basis. The end result is a decent-enough piece of work that never quite coalesces into a completely satisfying whole, which ensures, though never boring, exactly, that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets mostly comes off as a forgettable entry within a decidedly erratic series.

**1/2 out of ****