On Saturday, June 11th, 2022, at 1 P.M. Hogwarts time, James and Lily were in Lily's room to record another video for Lily Luna's World.

"Hello, all," greeted Lily cheerfully as the recording began, "My name is Lily Luna Potter and welcome back to Lily Luna's World. I am once again joined by my favorite brother James Sirius Potter and today we are going to be reviewing the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. A warning up from that not all characters or events will be motioned and that we are picking and choosing. "

"So," began James, "The very first thing I have to say is that Chamber of Secrets is by far the Harry Potter movie that is most faithful to the book and the extended version even more so."

"Hard agree," nodded Lily, "The theatrical version is very loyal to the book's plot and the extended version adds emotional depth."

"The only really notable thing from the book that the filmmakers left out is the Deathday party," observed James, "And that's so boring that I'm glad the filmmakers omitted it."

"Yeah," smiled Lily, "Certain trivial scenes, such the degnoming of the garden, are cut out. But all the important stuff is there. And the story in the movie is told in such a way that a person who has never read the book should easily be able to follow and understand it."

"So," piped up James, "I love the opening of the movie. I LOVE how Hedwig's Theme plays as the WB logo appears and flips over and then gives way to the title."

"I agree," said Lily simply, "But what did you of the music overall?"

"A lot of the music carried over from Sorcerer's Stone," said James matter of factly, "Hedwig's Theme, Leaving Hogwarts, and Harry's Wonderous World are wonderful carryovers from the first movie. If you liked the music in Sorcerer's Stone, then you will probably like the music in Chamber of Secrets. Fawkes the Phoenix and Reunion of Friends are two outstanding new musical additions in Chamber of Secrets."

"Harry Potter is definitely a movie series where the music is important," opined Lily, "In the DVD extras for Chamber of Secrets, there is a piece where John Williams talks about the importance of the music. The scene of dad reuniting with Hermione in the Great Hall is played back to back with the music removed and then reinserted. It's as obvious as the difference between night and day how much more fulfilling and satisfying the scene is WITH the music."

"I loved the DVD extra," grinned James, "Because it really gives viewers an appreciation for the music and its importance by framing in a practical way. The with and without comparison is fundamentally beautiful because it really showcases how great and how important the music is."

"Anytime you are talking about a movie," piped up Lily, "You have to talk about the visuals. There is NO QUESTION that the visuals in Chamber of Secrets are vastly improved over those from Sorcerer's Stone."

"This is clear," recognized James, "In how much better things like Fawkes and the pixies look than things like the troll and fluffy. And if we are talking about special effects, and the music helps with this scene too, I get chills seeing the shimmering letters rearrange themselves from saying Tom Marvolo Riddle to I am Lord Voldemort. And I yelped in shock the first time I saw this movie when Fawkes burst into flame. And when the green flames from the floo powder appeared, it was just so exciting and awesome."

"What do you think of Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of Gilderoy Lockhart?" Lily asked James.

"I don't like Gilderoy Lockhart," answered James, "But the portrayal was accurate. Gilderoy Lockhart is conceited, full of himself, falsely charming based off of his handsome appearance, incompetent, and a phony. The movie portrayal encapsulates all of those things."

"It's pretty ridiculous more people didn't see through Lockhart," snarled Lily disapprovingly, "Of course, some of the shallow girls had crushes on him, but even some of the boys bought his nonsense. Justin calling Lockhart brave? SMH?"

"So," interjected James, "I know they went a little darker on the color and lighting in Chamber of Secrets compared to Sorcerer's Stone."

"That makes sense when the petrification attacks start and Hogwarts goes through a dark time with dark events," replied Lily, "But I actually think some of the later movies cinemaphotography was actually TOO dark and in some cases significantly so because it made things hard to see. In Chamber of Secrets, it was dark enough to convey the mood of dark events but not so dark that seeing it became a difficult task."

"Chamber of Secrets hit that balance well," agreed James, "The battle between dad and Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets felt far more tense than dad's battle with Quirrell in Sorcerer's Stone. If you have never read Chamber of Secrets, you could genuinely believe that that battle could go either way. The tension in that scene is palpable. "

"The atmosphere through the movie is appropriately tense," said Lily clearly, "Viewers can really feel the sense of unease and uncertainty that permeates Hogwarts after the first petrification attack. And the tension in the Chamber of Secrets itself keeps you glued to your seat."

"Lily, is Chamber of Secrets an appropriate movie for children?" inquired James, "I know it has its dark, intense, and emotionally intense moments."

"I'd say it's okay for children who have attained the age of eight or above," stated Lily thoughtfully, "The emotional intensity of the scene where the second message appears on the wall, Aragog and his lair, and the very dark and tense battle between dad and Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets are too much for the under 8 crowd. 8 and above should be able to handle it. "

"I can go along with that," said James simply, "The one thing that I would criticize is that mom should have been portrayed as far more emotional when she wakes up after dad destroys Tom Riddle's diary. In the book, mom is sobbing and worried sick she is going to be expelled and blamed for what happened and only when Dumbledore indicates he knows Voldemort was behind it is the doubt erased. In the movie, she just says Riddle made her do it and calmly points to dad's wounds."

"Yes," said Lily sadly, "Mom was deeply emotionally wounded after the Chamber of Secrets ordeal and the movie should have acknowledged that. The book contains a questionable line about mom being perfectly happy again and that can't have been the case. It still pisses me off that mom was never given any kind of help or support to help her recover from the ordeal. But the book does show how hurt, emotional, and worried mom was when she woke up. I like Bonnie and I suspect the fault for this is on Kloves."

"Mom did terrible things but was an innocent victim in doing them," said James quietly, "And that's always hard to cope with. Sometimes, the hardest is to accept when someone is not your fault. I agree that mom needed more support."

"I was really proud," beamed Lily, "When the sword dad used to kill the basilisk was revealed to be the sword of Godric Gryffindor. I felt that in the book, but it seemed to mean even more to me in the movie."

"Dad is one of the truest Gryffindors of all time because he is so brave," piped up James, puffing out his chest, "Dad literally risked his life against a basilisk to save a girl he barely knew at the age of TWELVE. If that doesn't demonstrate courage, I don't know what does."

And before anyone says that "the girl became his wife," well he neither knew nor suspected that," declared Lily firmly.

"So," said James happily, "Due to its extreme faithfulness to the book, fulfilling music, excellent visuals, fantastic story framing, and appropriate tension for the story being told, I give Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets a well-deserved ten out of ten. This is the best Harry Potter movie of them all."

"A ten out of ten from my corner as well," agreed Lily, "The filmmakers nailed this one. I strongly encourage our viewers to check out the extended version. It's well worth it."

"We would like to dedicate this video to a dear friend of mom's and dad's who is also a dear friend of ours," James reminded Lily.

At that, both James and Lily looked straight ahead with their heads held up and said together:

"There's no Hogwarts without you Hagrid!"

James and Lily then stepped off screen and played Leaving Hogwarts for their viewers to hear before the video ended.