Another triumph, 25 Feb 2003

There were shocks and surprises along the way. The first shock was how much Daniel and Rupert have grown since the last film, in looks, height, and confidence. Daniel's lower voice took a few scenes to get used to as well. The biggest surprise was the brilliant portrayal of Gilderoy Lockheart by Kenneth Branagh, who stole every scene he appeared in and brought much of the humor of the books into the script.

Obviously keen to overcome some criticisms of the first film, director Chris Columbus tried to include as many parts of the storyline from the book as he reasonably could in the time and as a consequence the pace never lets up. Fortunately the plot isn't too complicated (unlike the next book) so kids won't have too much trouble keeping up.

Once again excellent performances from the adults and the 3 lead children, Emma Watson settling into the role of Hermione as if she was born to play her. Ruperts facial expressions of fear, whilst funny at first, did start to wear thin towards the end, and Tom Feltons portrayal of Draco was, to be honest, embarrassing, but cut thankfully short.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable film, better than the first, a little scarier (especially if you are afraid of spiders !) and a must have DVD for your collection when released.

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Disappointing, 15 April 2003

The problem stems from not from the actors but from a director who has been proven to be terrible (anybody remember the dire Bicentennial Man?) and a writer who, clearly lacking confidence in Rowling's original vision, tried to better her humour and failed miserably. We can only hope Alfonso de Cuaron will bring out the best in the young cast for the third film, because Chamber was not impressive at all.

As for the extras ... Harry Potter has an established and thriving fan base that rivals Lord of the Rings in scope and diversity. Jackson gave us a four disc extended edition with commentaries, featurettes and interviews. Yet the DVD marketers clearly failed to anticipate demand and all we got here were some deleted scenes - some barely seconds long and frankly not worthy of the name, and the most patronising, downright irritating commentator ever.

Worth watching for its brave attempt at adapting Rowling's magical world to the big screen, but frankly, a disappointment.

I still maintain they should have let the BBC do it as a miniseries. And cast Judi Dench in it somewhere.

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