Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Neither its amazing popularity nor its intended prepubescent audience can change the fact that JK Rowling's 'Harry Potter' books are rare gems in the world of books today: a (literally) magical world described inspiringly rather than impressively, leaving enough to the imagination. So did director Chris Columbus screw it all up by giving us the movie version of book 2? Yes and no. Yes, he successfully conjures up both Rowling's sense of wonder and her mix of darkness and humor, but no, even in 161 minutes, the story is condensed too much and becomes almost illogical. Read the books instead.