It’s time for Harry to return to Hogwarts for another year of magical education – provided his friend Ron can break him out of the bedroom he has been locked in.
But all is not well at the school of witchcraft and wizardry and soon Harry finds himself the prime suspect in a series of mysterious attacks on pupils.
All our favourite characters from The Philosopher’s Stone are back, and a little more grown up.
Hermione, who was so bossy last time, has become much more of a softy. Harry is a lot more confident – he isn’t scared of much and faces his fears. And Ron… well, Ron’s still funny – just an octave lower.
The children are still surrounded by an all-star cast, including Kenneth Branagh as an annoying new teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, and Jason Isaacs as Draco Malfoy’s slippery father, Lucius.
They are joined by Dobby the house elf, a computer-generated character who mostly looks and sounds very real as he tries to get Harry sent home for his own protection.
Just like the first film, key scenes from J K Rowling’s book have gone missing, and there are gaps in the story where things ought to be explained, but aren’t. We would especially have liked to see more of the duel between Harry and his enemy Draco.
But the film-makers have made much more of Harry and Ron flying a Ford Anglia to Hogwarts, in which Harry nearly falls out of the car, before they crash-land into the Whomping Willow. The special effects in this sequence were very impressive and for most of us this was our favourite scene.
A lot of work also went into Harry’s exciting and impressive battle in the Chamber of Secrets, with one or two surprises that scared some of us half to death.
Parents of younger children should know though that this is a much darker film than The Philosopher’s Stone. In fact we only really see daylight during the Quidditch match. That can make the world of Hogwarts seem more magical – but it also adds a lot to the sense of danger. The Chamber of Secrets is a scary film for a PG - maybe too scary. But we can't wait for the next one!
About this team
This review was produced by Adam Barnard, 14, Wayne Taylor and James Watkins, 12, Victoria Balch, and Jodie Duke 11, and Anne-Marie Palmer, 10. It was published in the Sunday Independent in Devon.
