Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS  (2002)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Chris Columbus
    Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint,
    Kenneth Branagh, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris,
    Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Griffiths,
    Julie Walters, Gemma Jones, John Cleese,
    Sean Biggerstaff, Fiona Shaw, Shirley Henderson
The second episode in the franchise begins with Harry being visited at home by a house elf named Dobby, who warns him not to go back to Hogwarts.  Of course, he does go back, in a flying car, and the adventure begins, with the young wizards out to foil a plot that could close their school forever. For somebody who's never read any of J.K. Rowling's books, this entry holds up pretty well. You can start to kind of see how a generation of kids got hooked on a series of relatively long novels about young people casting spells and fighting evil and flying around on broomsticks. Kenneth Branagh has a good time playing an ego-addled professor, and Richard Harris makes his final appearance as Dumbledore.