Written
by DAVID KEYES
There is a certain nostalgic potency to how the "Harry
Potter" stories are launched, as if they've been modeled
after every great childhood fantasy of the past without
actually indicating it specifically. In them, the hero of
the hour, one Harry James Potter, is anchored into unfair
obscurity by his nearest relatives, treated like a slave
day and night, and watched over like the most unwanted son
of the already-dysfunctional family unit. And yet no one
ever quite realizes just how smart, how charming and how
brilliant he is beneath the quiet facade; they sort of just
follow the pattern as if he's a hood ornament rather than
a personality, unaware that they are merely spectators in
his complex and exciting growth as someone whose differences
can be embraced rather than exploited.
That chord of quintessential delivery is fundamental to
some of the most classic children's literature of our era,
as demonstrated by the likes of "The Wizard of Oz,"
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and even
"Alice in Wonderland." And when I refer to the
children, I don't mean for the bracket to fall on ages between
5 and 10; like "Harry Potter," the more familiar
fables for youth are actually those pitched to kids who
are significantly older, if only because they utilize traits
sometimes too dark or foreboding for some ages to handle.
Parents should be strongly advised to consider that sentiment
when it comes to "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,"
the second screen adaptation of the famous J.K. Rowling
stories, which isn't just darker than its very successful
predecessor, but also rather serious and fierce.
I must confess, however, that I'm not exactly one of Mr.
Potter's biggest fans; in fact, I've never even read the
books that these movies are based on, though several colleagues
have insisted I do so (and though I'm hesitant about the
demand, be sure that this story, at least, is farther ahead
on my list than "Tuck Everlasting"). That hesitation,
needless to say, stems partly (but not entirely) from my
initial response to the first film in the series, which
I found invigorating and creative on a technical level,
but severely lackluster as a narrative. "The Chamber
of Secrets" makes a courageous attempt to resolve most
of those issues, and though the undertaking is slightly
more engaging and plausible then the last, it still feels
like it is holding back on something far too crucial or
relevant to be ignored.
Like its predecessor, the movie is about kids, extraordinary
and unique boys and girls who are summoned from every face
of the globe to take part in the wondrous (and sometimes
rigorous) exercise of education in all things witchcraft
and wizardry. On an annual basis, these bright and talented
little players are sent off into a strategically hidden
magic realm to further their studies at the gigantic Hogwarts
Academy, which is hidden deeply but safely in the mountainous
countryside like a boarding school for students who need
to be disconnected from the outside world. Though it isn't
your typical schooling environment, the essence is the same:
students are divided into "houses" upon arrival,
reside in dormitories, are subject to a variety of school
subjects and lectures, break many of the rules, and even
participate in extracurricular activities. While some students
are being tutored on the dangerous task of transplanting
Mandrake plants from one pot the next, others are being
subject to the halfhearted lessons of the school's newest
professor, the stuck-up blowhard Gilderoy Lockhart, who
gladly abandons his class in a room with dozens of escaped
blue pixies and hopes that they will know the right spells
to successfully recapture them.
As before, the movie's focus is not just on Harry Potter
himself (played once again by Daniel Radcliffe), the well-documented
sole survivor of a powerful wizard's wrath of fury, but
also other young and aspiring students as well. There's
Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), one of four aspiring wizards
in a family whose own clumsiness and naivety makes him the
target of many a joke, and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson),
an intellectual and charming girl who often arrives at conclusions
even when Potter himself doesn't know the answers. Together,
these three form the spinal column of the story, as they
slowly begin to suspect something amiss about their environment
just when their elders begin to creep dangerously closer
to the edge of panic. They know nothing concrete about what
is causing this gradual threat against the academy's survival,
but whatever it is, they suspect that a notorious school
legend regarding the "chamber of secrets" has
something to do with it.
Newbies to the experience of the "Harry Potter"
legacy will make instant notation of how clever the story
can be with labeling and representing its numerous side
details. There is, for instance, the Quidditch game, a sport
that combines elements of rugby, soccer and hockey while
wizards are suspended in midair by their brooms. But characters
aren't simply taught exercises or lessons here; they live
the material through the use of distinctive mindsets, sometimes
having adventures or asking questions along the way that
don't go by anyone else's standards. Through an exciting
lesson on protection spells, for example, Potter discovers
that he is what other wizards call a "parcel tongue,"
someone who has the rare ability of talking to snakes through
the use of an ancient language that no modern textbook could
successfully describe. Potter never quite realizes the capability
even when he is made aware of his power; instead, he questions
his own relevance as a student at Hogwarts, and whether
he is being clumped into the right academy house considering
his "gift."
Though the academy itself at the center of the "Harry
Potter" stories is easily one of the most elaborate
and memorable sets in modern moviemaking (what else can
be said about an infrastructure with rotating staircases,
hidden bathroom chambers, coexisting ghost entities and
animated wall portraits?), other traits of these films have
not been as rewarding. Consider the Dobby character in "The
Chamber of Secrets," if you will, a digital creature
who spends the majority of the film as Potter's noisy reminder
that he shouldn't be anywhere near the school this year.
In a twisted and eccentric way, he looks like an anorexic
version of Yoda and talks like Jar Jar Binks on steroids.
Director Chris Columbus seems to be aiming for a goal with
this special effects creationperhaps to enlighten
the sometimes-depressing mood of the storybut the
attempts are not only unsuccessful, but rather unattractive
as well. Not once do we feel even the slightest admiration
for his noisy and obnoxious ways; in fact, when he makes
it a habit of slamming his head on objects as personal punishment,
we actually hope he falls unconscious as a result and spends
the rest of the movie in a coma.
If that isn't enough to tip the scales, then look no further
than the movie's last act, an hour of consistent nothingness
decorated by visuals so elaborately grim that they almost
scream out in frustration. As expected, Harry, Hermione
and Ron get a little too close to the danger when they begin
uncovering the clues behind the Chamber of Secrets (the
movie even pits them against ferocious spiders that make
those of "Eight-Legged Freaks" look innocent),
but as was the case with the first film, this movie puts
them on a stage of existence completely detached from the
ongoing action. The heroes lack any sense of involvement
in the final hour; instead, they come off more like observers
of the game who allow the mind-boggling battles and confrontations
to simply assault their senses. During the climactic battle,
even the digital creatures have more screen presence than
the actual flesh and bone players.
When it comes to the imagination scale, "Harry Potter"
has everything it needs: brilliant visuals, endless ambition,
offbeat storytelling, and characters who rush of the screen
in constant splendor. But what does it all really amount
to in the end? Not much of a payoff, I'm afraid. And if
the books are in fact very close to the screen products
I have witnessed, then the Harry Potter craze will have
to remain as it is: oblivious to my concern.