AGW Entertainment reporter Lynn B. saw a new magical adventure film. Here are her thoughts on....

HARRY POTTER

AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

Warner Brothers Pictures

Kenneth Branagh, who plays Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart defends his young co-stars "The kids remain the way you would expect them to be at this age. They have not remotely grown into monsters" but there are plenty of "monsters" to challenge the Hogwart trio this time around.

As summer vacation comes to an end, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is still living with his muggle family. A weird little CGI elf named Dobby makes life difficult for Harry and warns him not to return to Hogwarts for his 2nd year. Harry finds the train station's invisible portal to the Hogwarts Express mysteriously blocked so he and Ron hop into Ron's parents' flying car for a wild ride to Hogwarts.

Soon the school falls under a dark cloud. A chilly voice whispers from the walls to Harry in a weird language he surprisingly can understand. Students are found "petrified," warnings appear on walls in blood and a monster moves about the school unimpeded. Apparently, someone has opened the legendary, though hidden, Chamber of Secrets. If kids keep getting harmed, the school will have to close.

Harry, Ron and Hermoine's struggle to get to the bottom of these frightening incidents is not helped when a rumor spreads that Harry is the long-dreaded heir of Slytherin, one of the school's founders, who created the Chamber of Secrets. Then from a secret diary springs a spirit, Tom Riddle (Christian Coulson), who offers to show Harry what lies behind a mystifying incident that took place at the school 50 years before.

If you're read the Potter book you know all the above. Like all sequels, this film lacks the wonder of first seeing the book characters come to life. Now, they are as familiar to us as the kid next door. The writer and director have managed to stuff everything from the book into this long adventure…whether it's needed to make a fast-paced film or not. If you hated Jar Jar Binks, you might be just as annoyed by elf Dobby who keeps banging himself on the head when he does something wrong. Ghosts and spiders and snakes abound. All cool effects but I kept thinking of the spiders in 8-Legged Freaks and the snakes from the old "Sinbad" movies. But, a gorgeous Phoenix with bright red feathers who comes to Harry's rescue is all new and marvelous!

The young actors are now more comfortable and believable in their parts and it's fun to see where Ron (Rupert Grint) lives with his whole, large family. Regrettably, although she is instrumental in solving the mysteries and saving Harry, Hermione (Emma Watson) is "petrified" and out of most of the 2nd half of the film leaving Ron and Harry to adventure on their own.

It's fun to see great actor/director Kenneth Branagh as a vain, preening celebrity writer who comes to the school to teach defenses against the black arts when he can barely defend his own shaky magical powers. He even has a holographic picture of himself painting….a portrait of himself! Jason Isaacs is appropriately dastardly as Malfoy's dad Lucius. This is the last time we'll see Richard Harris as Dumbledore and he was as elegant as ever.

This film is much darker and more action/adventurous than the last. It even tackles a very serious subject; racism. In this case, prejudice against mudbloods, magical kids born of non-magical parents. This is a lesson that can well be applied to the peer pressure and racist cliques found in schools today.

John Williams' music is not quite as loud and intrusive as in the last film but better supports rather than drowns out the action. Overall, the film could use some tightening but, as a representation of the Potter books, it's flawless.

Official website: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

Rated: PG