Slipping only occasionally into the bigger-is-better theory that plagues many movie sequels, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is another successful wild ride, thanks to a very entertaining source, a keen and fairly faithful adaptation, and top-notch special effects.  The trouble is that Secrets is almost the same damn movie we saw in theatres last year.  Other than a smattering of new characters (one could be JarJar Binks' bastard child), there's very little else to offer.  Did that make it any less enjoyable? Hell, no.  But a third version of the same thing might be pushing it...

If you didn't see the first film, or aren't familiar with the book, you'll probably be lost within the first two minutes.  Secrets doesn't slow down to re-introduce us to any of the characters, settings or situations from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  Our titular hero (Daniel Radcliffe) once again resides with his evil Muggle relatives when the curtain rises, but before long, and against the stern advice of a strange house elf named Dobby (voiced by Toby Jones), he is whisked off to Hogwarts where he attends unusual classes, plays Quidditch, hangs with his two closest chums and battles a big boss at the end.  And that's pretty much it.

A great majority of the cast from the first film have returned, including the late Richard Harris, who probably won't be back for the third installment.  New characters include Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), Hogwarts' new attention-craving Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts; the starstruck Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright); and the apparently evil Lucius Malfoy (The Patriot's Jason Isaacs), who happens to be the father of Harry's equally malevolent school nemesis, Draco (Tom Felton).  As a person who has not read beyond J.K. Rowling's second novel, I can only imagine the latter two will have bigger parts in the upcoming films.  Lockhart, on the other hand, meets a fate that many are likely to miss:  After the closing credits, there's a funny bit that would ordinarily be worth sticking around for...if the credits didn't run for 10 minutes.

Secrets is a bit longer, a bit scarier and plenty more dark, both literally and figuratively.  Personally, I'm amazed it was able to slide by with a PG rating.  Only a few parts of the book didn't make it onto the screen, but one of them – involving Harry and the giant spider Aragon – was noticeably toned down from Rowling's pages to save the PG rating.  There's also a lot of talk about ethnic cleansing, though Secrets never uses those words.  We do learn that "mudblood" is the wizard equivalent of "nigger," which is certainly helpful to know.  Roger Pratt, who has worked with directors like Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam and Neil Jordan, replaces John Seale as the series' cinematographer. Needless to say, that's probably where the aforementioned literal darkness stems from.

Like so many sequels to huge blockbusters, Secrets definitely needs to have different behind-the-camera talent for each subsequent film (like the Alien films), and this is a perfect example of what happens when you don't do just that.  Luckily, the next film in the series (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) will find director Christopher Columbus replaced with Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamá también ) which is kind of like swapping Coors Lite for Guinness.

2:41 -

for scary moments, some creature violence and mild language