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Potter faces new terrors in sequel

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ opens, takes number one spot at $87 million


The long awaited sequel to the Harry Potter series has finally arrived with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets opening in theaters on Thursday, November 15.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets follows the second year of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his two best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Herminone Granger (Emma Watson) at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Awaiting his return to school, Harry is visited by Dobby the House Elf (voice by Toby Jones) who comes to warn Harry of the terrible dangers to come if he does return to Hogwarts.

Despite Dobby’s efforts and warnings, Harry returns to Hogwarts to find a terror lurking inside the school. Harry begins to hear a strange voice that no one else can hear. Hogwarts students are being petrified and no one knows what is causing all the terror.

The only clue anyone has is that the heir of Slytherin has opened the rumored Chamber of Secrets. Who is the true heir? Could it be Hagrid the Game Keeper (Robbie Coltrane) whose secret past is finally told?

Could it be Harry’s hated rival Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) whose passion to get rid of mud bloods (wizards with non-wizard parents) stems from his parents?

Or could it be Harry himself, since everyone he has a squabble with is turned to stone?

The Chamber of Secrets isn’t all about evil and dark forces. Harry returns as seeker for the Gryffndor Quidditch team, but to his surprise Malfoy is the new seeker for the Slytherin team. The sequel to the Harry Potter series is definitely darker than the first movie.

Hogwarts, once thought to be safe, is no longer secure with a threat to close down the school until the culprit has been caught.

The audience learns more about Harry and the wizarding world in this movie. Harry also questions his placement in the Gryffndor House.

I gave it four and a half stars because it was entertaining and it followed the basic storyline in the book pretty well.

The Harry Potter series is written for children, but many college students and adults have joined in the craze of Harry Potter.

Sitting in the theater on opening night, I found there to be more adults than children in the theater.

A lot of them seemed to enjoy it as much as the children did. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves a bit of fantasy and magic in their lives. No one is ever too old for a bit of magic and imagination.

Although the movie cut out some key parts in the book, it was expected to not include every single little detail of the book due to time components.

It’s always expected that the book and the movie will be a little different due to many circumstances.

The book gave more details and set the storyline up a lot better, but the movie did have more comedy and it followed the plot well.

The director did a wonderful job with sticking to the story line and condensing the material to fit it in less than three hours. The movie also added many instances of humor that the book didn’t have.

Ron and Hermione’s characters are also more developed in the second movie.

The movie grossed in at about $87 million on opening weekend taking the number one spot away from 8 Mile.

The next story in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be shot in 2003 and should be released in late 2003 or early 2004.

Harry Potter fans, it is also rumored that the fifth book of the seven book series will be released next year.

For more information visit the official Harry Potter Web site at harrypotter.warnerbros.com.