Harry Potter 2: Longer, scarier, and even more fun

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a babysitter's dream and a parent's nightmare. The movie packs enough magical action and plot to keep even the antsiest child still for two and a half hours, but it just might cause children (and the occasional college student) to wake up screaming at night.

The second Harry Potter film is more plot-oriented than the first, which focused mainly on special effects and creating a fantasy atmosphere. The Chamber of Secrets also has more suspense, darker cinematography, and more monsters jumping out from under the bed _ or toilet.

Though the child actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), and Emma Watson (Hermione) are adorable, the show is stolen by Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, the Defense from the Dark Arts teacher. The character is gleefully vain _ sort of the Fabio of the Dark Arts world _ and Branagh delivers a hilariously delicious performance.

The story begins in a tense state, as a house elf named Dobby visits Harry at his "muggle" aunt and uncle's house and warns him that "most terrible things will happen" if he returns to school. These warnings prove true soon enough, when Harry and his friend Ron can't pass through the wall to platform nine and a half to take the train back to school and are forced to drive there in a bipolar flying Ford Anglia that nearly kills them several times.

Within their first few weeks at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and another friend, Hermione, stumble upon a dangerous mystery. An heir to the founder of Slytherin has opened the Chamber of Secrets and let lose a monster that is petrifying students _ literally. When Harry is accused of being the culprit, he defies school rules to uncover the truth.

Much of the plot is advanced through visual effects and actions, which makes it easier for children to follow. But there are more than enough creative nuances and jokes to keep adults entertained for the full two hours and forty minutes.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets quite cleverly incorporates moral themes that appeal to all ages but are not force-fed. It stresses that intelligence wins, and Harry's loyalty to his friends is what enables him to survive dangerous encounters. The movie also teaches children to push the limits and think outside the box, but stresses that there are always consequences for breaking the rules.

One of the most apparent themes is the importance of accepting differences in others. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets was created by a founder of the Hogwarts School who did not want children from muggle (meaning non-wizard) parents to attend, and when unleashed it attacks such students. Draco Malfoy, Harry's peer nemesis, insults Hermione by calling her a "mud-blood" and frequently belittles Ron for coming from a poor family. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the bad guys are clearly bad because they alienate others based on the classes to which they belong.

These themes, though corny, are subtly entwined in the resolution of the plot, resulting in a heartwarming and triumphant ending. There is something for everyone in the storyline, whether you like action, suspense, special effects, humor, or feel-good family themes. The only thing missing is the element of romance, and frankly, it is quite refreshing to see a film where the screenwriters didn't force a romance in there just to have one, a la Disney. Romance between ten-year-olds is also a little risqu?© to say the least.

On a side note, one of the previews before Harry Potter was for a movie about a kangaroo who steals a sweatshirt with money that was supposed to be delivered to somewhere in Sydney, runs away, and raps with an Australian accent. This movie makes it apparent that there is way too much money just floating around to be spent on movies in this country. It is recommended that you not only miss this flick in the theaters, but also that you close your eyes during the preview.

But back to Harry Potter: though the writers of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets did lose some of the book's richness in the transfer to the movie screen, the film sticks fairly faithfully to the original plot and will bring the story to life for anyone who has read it.

If you are not familiar with Harry Potter, however, you may want to do some legwork before you stand in line with a bunch of screaming preteens to buy tickets this weekend. Otherwise, you may have difficulty keeping up with the magical accessories that adorn the world of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry Potter, like The Lord of the Rings, is an exclusive club that everyone has to join to understand. Most of us, however, are already card-carrying members.