Rowling has said that Lockhart is the only character in her books that is based upon a real person – and whoever it is, we must thank, for providing the foundation for such a wonderful and endlessly quotable character.Īs Lockhart, Branagh makes full use of his dashing and roguish screen persona – he simultaneously fulfils it in his puffed-up proclamations and general swagger, and subverts it as he is revealed as the devious and incompetent fraud we always suspected he would be. And few of these characters would be brought so vividly and hilariously to life with as little screen time as with Branagh’s portrayal of Lockhart. Rowling’s writing style, it can’t be denied that she has a gift for creating memorable, larger-than-life characters – Dumbledore, Hagrid, Dolores Umbridge and even Filch were well-drawn and fully realised, and with some pitch-perfect casting managed to make as big an impression onscreen as they had from the page.

Whatever can be said about HP author J.K.

However despite the creative barrenness and awkward acting of HP’s early years, one shining light emerged to elevate Chamber of Secrets at least to above average – we speak, of course, of the great Kenneth Branagh’s hysterical performance as the pompous shyster and all-round slick git Gilderoy Lockhart. It was only with the discerning choice of (now Oscar-winning) Alfonso Cuarón to direct the third film, and the growth of the central three of Radcliffe, Watson and Grint as actors that the HP films would take a turn towards the darker tone and more character-driven stories that would see the series become as well-respected (by both children and adults) as it eventually did.

Uninspiring, overlong and purely functional, they would serve as a wonder-filled and wide-eyed cinematic introduction to the wizarding world, but little more. It’s a fact widely acknowledged that the first two entries in the eight part Harry Potter adaptations, helmed by noted “ bean counter” Chris Columbus, were the series’ weakest.

Harry potter and the chamber of secrets