Hogwarts Revisited – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

On the fifteenth of July, 2011, the highest grossing film franchise ever will finally come to an end. Spanning ten years, eight movies, four directors and a worldwide box-office gross of over six billion dollars – the Harry Potter film franchise will draw to a close with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, as Harry faces off against He Who Must Not Be Named for the very last time.

So, without further ado, previously on Harry Potter…

With a year of wizarding school under his belt, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is enjoying the spoils of his newfound fame and fortune – namely a whole bedroom to himself – when he meets with the unfortunate assistance of self-flagellating house-elf Dobby. Unable to access the Hogwarts Express via Platform 9 3/4, Harry and Ron (Rupert Grint) are left with many sane choices but opt to take Mr. Weasley’s flying car to school anyway, accidentally crashing into the schools whomping willow and breaking Ron’s wand in the process. With celebrity Gilderoy Lockheart (Kenneth Branagh) replacing Professor Quirrell as the school’s Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a new mystery soon unfolds  – what exactly is the eponymous Chamber of Secrets?

Something is stalking the corridors of Hogwarts, petrifying anyone unlucky enough to get in its way. With Hermione (Emma Watson) soon out of action and Ron’s sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) mysteriously missing, Harry learns of the Chamber’s location from the ghost of the creatures previous victim, Moaning Myrtle, and takes Ron and Lockheart to stop the creature before it can strike again. When Lockheart reveals himself to be a fraud and attempts to steal the glory from Harry using Ron’s broken wand, the spell backfires leaving Lockheart amnesic and Harry alone. Identifying Tom Riddle – Voldermort’s younger self, acting through an old diary – as the mastermind behind the Basilisks attacks, Harry slays the beast and destroys the book ending the spell and saving Ginny from her deathly fate.

Columbus returns for his second – and final – take on the Potter saga, delivering another faithful and assured adaptation in the process. A year older and without the benefit of the first movie’s novelty, Radcliffe, Grint and Watson’s thespian shortcomings come to the fore, exemplified in contrast to the talent occupying the film’s many supporting roles. Chamber of Secret’s also heralds in some of the franchises other trademarks, beginning the series’ ongoing pursuit of darkness while also boasting a winning sense of humour.

Although still bloated and overlong, this first sequel successfully irons out a few of Philosopher Stone’s primary flaws. Whereas the first film’s Quiddich sequence was relatively staid and unexciting, the effects have developed to a point where the game does justice to the wizarding sport. Similarly Dobby – although likened by some to the Phantom Menace’s Jar Jar Binks – is a welcome addition to the series, Toby Jones’ voicework really bringing the character to life. It is Jason Isaacs’ Lucius Malfoy who really steals the show, however, as Draco’s softly spoken but endlessly menacing father.

Currently the 21st highest-grossing film ever made, and the first film to sell one million DVDs in its opening weekend in the U.K., Columbus was clearly doing something right. Having picked a a name less alien to American audiences, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets also overcome the first film’s identity crisis, with the cast no longer having to worry about filming some scenes twice. Foreshadowing future instalments – particularly Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – with the introduction of Aragog and the destruction of Tom Riddles diary, revisiting the Chamber of Secrets is a truly portentous joy.

Hogwarts Revisited – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

On the fifteenth of July, 2011, the highest grossing film franchise of all time will finally come to an end. Spanning ten years, eight movies, four directors and a worldwide box-office gross of over six billion dollars – the Harry Potter film franchise will open at the close with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, as Harry prepares to face off against He Who Must Not Be Named for the very last time.

So, without further ado, previously on Harry Potter…

Back in 2001 – or 1991 according to the books – Harry Potter (Daniel Radcluffe) was just a normal boy, albeit one who weird things happened to. Having unwittingly unleashed a Burmese Python on the visitors to London Zoo during his cousin Dudley’s (Harry Melling) eleventh birthday, and even going so far as to converse with it, Harry is soon the recipient of a never-ending barrage of letters, each promptly intercepted by his exasperated Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths) and Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw). Tracked down to an isolated island sanctuary on his own eleventh birthday, Harry is liberated from his cupboard under the stairs and invited to enroll at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by part-giant gamekeeper Hagrid (Robbie Coltraine).

Arriving at Hogwarts with pet owl Hedwig, Harry is soon sorted into Gryffindor house where he is introduced to Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) and budding arch nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). Having witnessed Hagrid remove a strange package from Gringotts, the wizarding bank, at the same time as he was withdrawing funds from his parents’ vault, Harry begins to uncover a sinister plot to steal the Philosophers stone from its new hiding place in the school grounds. Suspecting potions professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) to be behind it, Harry is soon confronted with the man responsible for his parents’ death, and the mysterious scar which occupies his own forehead, Lord Voldermort. Maintaining his role as The Boy Who Lived, besting He Who Must Not Be Named for the second time in his short life, Harry discovers from venerable headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) that it was his mothers sacrifice which saved him from both of Voldermort’s attacks.

Chris Columbus’ first film in the franchise is often derided for its lack of creative license with the source material. With Steve Kloves’ faithful script and Columbus’ often pedestrian direction, Philosophers Stone goes to great lengths to pack as much of J. K. Rowling’s original book into the movie as possible  – often at the expense of character development and narrative momentum. Indeed, with very few scenes sacrificed to rein in the running time the first act in particular boarders on montage as the prologue is awkwardly squeezed in and Harry unceremoniously rushed to Hogwarts.

If Philosopher’s Stone isn’t as adventurous as later films in the franchise – there is nothing even approaching Alfonso Cuarón’s visual flair – it is also thoroughly enchanting in its by-the-numbers sincerity. It is a genuinely magical introduction to the exquisitely realised magical world, with a host of impressive CGI and note-perfect casting lending proceedings a timeless quality. Complete with a reliably iconic score courtesy of John Williams, this is family entertainment at its most accomplished; stalwart foundations carefully set without which the more creative flourishes of later installments would not have been possible.

With Rowling keeping a relatively close eye on filming, it is really quite impressive how little Philosopher’s Stone curtails the later movies. With a number of the novels yet to be written, it is testament to the author’s planning and vision that so little is in need of retconning ten years down the line. It is this integrity, and the astonishing degree of casting continuity, that affords the film its biggest accomplishment. When Alan Rickman greases his way on screen for the first time, it is as though he is entirely aware of the iconic nature of his truly astounding performance as the enigmatic Severus Snape.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010)

Having watched just about every father figure he has ever had be unceremoniously Avada Kedavra’d, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is eager to complete the rest of his unofficial mission alone. With Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) proving unshakeable, however, the trio are soon wandering the streets of muggle London bereft of any safe place to hide. Securing a Horcrux (a piece of Lord Voldermort’s soul) from the Ministry of Magic, our heroes’ progress is stunted when it quickly proves immune to normal magic. As an increasingly haggard Ron struggles to cope with the trio’s apparent lack of direction, he inconveniently bails leaving a distraught Hermione after becoming jealous over her relationship with Harry. In his absence, Harry and Hermione visit Harry’s birthplace in a desperate search for answers. Leaving with another tidbit of information, and eventually regrouping with a repentant Ron, Harry and Hermione must track down the Sword of Gryfindor if they are ever to finally defeat Voldermort.

Having now seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I three times (if you think that’s bad then you really don’t know me at all), I have yet to disengage with director David Yates’ admittedly slow paced narrative. With the final instalment split across two movies, and most of the source novel’s action set to occur in Part II, the penultimate film was always going to be high on plot and light on set-pieces. However, this late in the game – and so much strife yet to come when the last movie is released in July – it was about time we spent some actual time with the characters whose lives will soon be hanging in the balance. Across films 1-6, we have had little insight into the everyday interactions of Harry, Ron and Hermione, their unwavering friendship apparently the result of – well, just because.

As such, when the action is paused while Hermione cuts Harry’s hair, or Harry and Hermione slow-dance in Ron’s absence, I was anything but bored – finding myself warming to a group of already loved characters as if I was meeting them for the very first time. Regularly criticised for their amateurish acting, Deathly Hallows stands testament to just how inextricably linked actor and character have become. With Polyjuice potion once again raising its shapeshifting head, it is incredible just how competently the actors cope with the requirements of imitating someone else. As Harry plays six of his peers in one impressive opening scene, as Hermione copes with the loss of her unrequited love, and said unrequited love clings to a radio as he listens out for the fate of his family, you really get a sense of how much each actor has grown – even if other scenes prove slightly less convincing.

On a more technical level, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is reliably spectacular. As a steady slew of homages hark back to the previous six instalments – Potter’s latest marks the welcome return of Dobby, the Dudley’s (briefly, but I’ll get to that), Triwizarding competitor Fleur Delacour and über-bitch Dolores Umbridge – the nostalgia is complemented by a franchise-matured gravitas that makes it clear that the end is in sight. An airborne ambush, a Ministry skirmish and a last act animated segment keep jaws firmly on the floor as our heroes take intermittent  breaks from their prolonged camping trip to flex their wand arms. The effects are never at the expense of the characters, however, and this is never more true than the effects-heavy destruction of the locket Horcrux. Visually stunning, the scene is all the more effective for the impact it has on Ron – his fear of spiders coming back with a satisfying vengeance.

As far as justifying the decision to split the movie in two, I found myself too involved in the story to care. Yes the final scene fails at closure and could have been shoehorned anywhere in the movie, indeed the pacing lags with the characters as they find themselves inundated with dead ends and sure the movie leaves Part II with little but the Battle of Hogwarts to concern itself with, but I found enough in its considerable screentime to keep me entertained. My only problem with the movie, as ever, is the scenes that have been lost in the translation to film. While the novel spends some time with the Dursley’s, permitting them the chance to redeem their horridness with a loaded apology, the film has them out the door before the opening credits roll. Similarly, the conflict between Horcruxes and Hallows proved a compelling dilemma in J. K. Rowling’s final tome whereas it is dangerously underdeveloped in the adaptation. Having only just discovered the Hallows when the movie ends at Shell Cottage, Harry’s forced decision will lack qualification if it too occurs, as scheduled, at Shell Cottage at the next film’s open.

However, the opening concocted by Yates does not suffer as a consequence of his omission. After the stunted opening act of Half Blood Prince – in which Michael Gambon apparently forgot how to act and the pacing suffered a distracting case of the shakes, it is reassuring to see the director back with such force. As the corroding Warner Bros. insignia creaks overhead and Alexandre Desplat’s score sweeps into action, there is no finer proof that this particular saga is about to go out on a high. From this point on the film just gets better and better as Yate’s flexes his truly impressive horror capabilities and people die, snakes strike and Hermione shrieks in agony. It really is a beautifully shot, beautifully scripted and beautifully orchestrated movie in its own right – far more than simply another cash-in franchise instalment.

Other than a fanboy’s arbitrary gripes, however, there is very little fault to be found with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. A triad of undervalued performances, an uplifting score and a welcomingly intimate focus, Deathly Hallows is the calm(ish) before the storm. A beautifully crafted piece of escapism, Harry Potter is once again the pinnacle of children’s fantasy which – like the adults – is just as mature as any other.

Here’s to the albino dragon of Part II!