 January
2003
This month's review:
Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets
Final Jeopardy Category: Mythical Creatures
Final Jeopardy Answer: (Remember that your answer must
be in the form of a question.)
A legendary serpent or dragon with lethal breath and glance.
How many of you came up with the following?
What is a basilisk?
If you don’t know what a basilisk is, memorize the definition. It
will come in handy for your understanding of Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets.
This is the second installment in the Harry Potter series and,
for my money, a better offering than the first one. It has an
entertaining story, good acting performances (including that of the
late Richard Harris in his final role), many humorous moments, and a
number of touching scenes. On the negative side, though, it’s
violent and embraces the occult, and it contains a number of “Bloody
H---“ epithets.
For those of you not familiar with the Harry Potter books and
movies, here’s a thumbnail sketch: Harry is a young (12 or 13)
English orphan forced to live with his nasty aunt, uncle, and
cousin, who treat him little better than a slave. Fortunately, Harry
has benefactors who rescue him from this miserable situation and
reveal to him his own underlying magic powers. Having escaped from
the clutches of his relatives, Harry attends the famous Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Chamber of Secrets covers
Harry’s second year at Hogwarts and has at least as many intriguing
touches as the first installment did: an airborne car, an attacking
tree, a diary one can communicate with, mandrake plants with
wailing, shrieking roots, and a fun new character named Dobby the
House Elf. It also has its repulsive moments, as when Harry’s friend
Ron vomits live slugs. And those who aren’t fond of spiders need to
be cautioned: there are lots of them, big and small.
When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone came out
a year or so ago, there was considerable discussion as to whether
the film was dangerous or immoral because it dealt with witchcraft
and wizardry. That issue hasn’t gone away. The occult takes center
stage, even if it’s a benign occult. While certainly not
anti-Christian, the movie has no underlying Christian world view as
does The Lord of the Rings. A more serious problem for
me is the fact that The Chamber of Secrets lacks any
real suspense. There’s a long, violent (and in my view tedious)
battle with the basilisk, but there’s never any doubt that the
basilisk is going to be vanquished and that the good guys are going
to win out. Have you ever had the experience of seeing a movie you’d
watched before but are afraid it won’t turn out as you want it
to—that even though you know what’s going to happen, you’re still
afraid the good guys won’t win? There’s none of that wonderful
tension here.
Nonetheless, many of the characters display positive character
traits that, while not explicitly Christian, coincide with Christian
values such as loyalty and choosing correct paths. As Professor
McGonagall says, “It is not our own abilities that make us what we
are; it is our choices.” The scene with the healing powers of the
phoenix’s tears is pure gold. I wouldn’t take anyone younger then
ten to this movie, but folks older than that should have a good time
with it and long--as they don’t mind slugs and spiders.
Rating: 2 ¾
stars
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Index of movie
reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)
Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is
a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as
Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News
(West Side newsletter) since 2002.
If you have comments or questions
about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at
dramachap@msn.com.
Ratings are expressed in
increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb
Criteria for determining the ratings:
- Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values,
including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
- Quality of the acting
- Originality
- Unity of the entire picture
- Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight
Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com
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