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United Kingdom, United States, Germany · 2002
Rated PG · 2h 41m
Director Chris Columbus
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh
Genre Adventure, Fantasy
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After a long summer with the Dursleys, Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his second year. But in the halls of Hogwarts, chilling voices whisper only to Harry. Soon it's not just Harry who is worried about survival, as dreadful things begin to happen at the school.
Before it degenerates into Indiana Potter and the Chamber of Doom, the movie holds promise -- it hints at why the Harry Potter movies aren’t half as wonderful as they ought to be, why they feel created from the outside in. Magic isn’t made by committee.
I can't think of a movie this long that has left me so starved for a movie.
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
Chamber is chockablock with action (including a far more exciting game of Quidditch) and crafty special effects.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
A fun, fantastic adventure, but, watching it, I had the sense that it could have been even better than it is. I was diverted and entertained, but never truly absorbed.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
The film's scary moments are too monstrous and its happy times have too much idiotic beaming, making the film feel like the illegitimate offspring of "Alien" and "The Absent-Minded Professor."
Austin Chronicle by Kimberley Jones
Columbus never quite captures the depth, the rich complexities of Rowling's novels. She's written four Harry Potter books for kids that adults swoon for, too. Columbus has made two Harry Potter movies for kids … and we'll leave it at that. That isn't bad. But I suspect there's something better just around the bend.
Screenwriter Steve Kloves still seems overly dedicated to cramming in every detail of J.K. Rowling's novel - while tacking on a schmaltzy Hollywood ending.
Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy
Not much in the way of captivating magic, but all the expected notes are duly played. Hope springs eternal for the next film in the series, though: Columbus is handing the reins over to Alfonso Cuaron, an actual movie director.
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
Big, dull and empty -- nobody associated with this production appears to have thought hard about storytelling.
Darker and more dramatic, this account of Harry's troubled second year at Hogwarts may be a bit overlong and unmodulated in pacing, but it possesses a confidence and intermittent flair that begin to give it a life of its own apart of the literary franchise, something the initial picture never achieved.
The adventures of a Time Lord known only as the Doctor, who travels through time and space fighting monsters and other villainous megalomaniacs.
A New Power Is Rising.
Let the Magic Begin.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
When Harry Potter's name is drawn from the Goblet of Fire, he is called to compete in a dangerous wizarding tournament.
I’m sorry, professor. But I must not tell lies.
“Dumbledore's man through and through, aren't you Potter?" "Yeah I am. Glad we straightened that out.”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality.
An adventure adapted from J.K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."