Produced by Chris Columbus’s “1492 Pictures” and distributed by Warner Bros. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is the electrifying sequel to the exhilarating first movie. Based on the book of the same name, this is the second in the proposed seven series of titles about renowned magic student Harry Potter. This time around we are thrust immediately into the action with none of the extraneous character development that bogged down the first novel and therefore, the first films experience as well. Since you have already read the text or plan on watching the film yourself, I’ll spare you all the sordid details. But for the sake of the review, this is a brief synopsis of the story. At Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) second year at Hogwarts he, along with friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), must find the secret chamber, reveal the evil villain, and save the school all before the end of the school year. Getting in Harry’s way is the evil (and I mean wicked) Malfoy family, risk of being expelled, and of course certain death. This kid also has a house elf that almost kills him every times he tries to, “help Harry Potter,” everyone around him who’s a mudblood (NEVER use that word, if you don’t know, read the book) is being petrified (literally), and the walls are whispering things like, “kill,” and “death,” to him. So like any good “Hardy Boys,” “Boxcar Mysteries,” or David Lynch film there is a mystery to be solved and it’s up to our unlikely heroes to do it. First off I want to say that despite all the sarcastic humor, I absolutely love this picture. As a huge fan of all the novels I knew that it would be love at first sight. But as a fan of modern commercial cinema, I was surprised to be so into the cinematic nuances in the film. I have to admit I was worried when I heard about Chris Columbus getting the job as director. Known for the “Home Alone” series, “Adventures in Babysitting,” and “Mrs. Doubtfire,” I knew he could do well with child actors. But would the man who brought us “Nine Months” and the schmaltzy, “Stepmom” be able to hold the reins on the cinematic version of the most famous modern series of literature? Well, after the first movie the answer was a reverberating, sort of. The actors were there, the visuals were pleasing enough but you couldn’t help wanting more. With the second time around, everything was much tighter and as a result, the film much stronger. Chalk it up to Peter Honess taking over the editing duties. His 161-minute run time for the final cut of the film never feeling wearisome. Roger Pratt replacing John Seale as the franchise’s cinematographer also seems to have turned out much better as I felt more willing to suspend disbelief and the world felt much larger. Even John Williams sleepily turning in his score last time around was able to turn the music in this film into something much more memorable. It’s too bad that after his two times out Columbus is finished with the franchise because he is just beginning to find his stride but because Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (of “Y tu Mama Tambien” and “The Little Princess” remake fame) is taking over directing duties, I guess I’ll be fine.