This sequel was one that actually met the first in terms of quality and maybe surpassing the first

The movie as well as the charaters did some maturing in terms of acting ability, scariness, and content of the movie

although the movie is geared toward younger kinds and pre-teens, the content was sometimes too graphic (words written in blood on the walls, cat strung up by its tail, 'petrified' people and ghosts)

The subject matter was a bit wierd as well...

I got a bad WWII Arian Nation vibe with the 'Pure Blood' and Mud Blood' context of the movie.

Especially when the main proponent of the 'Pure Bloods' is Jason Isaacs playing Issac Malfoy in long bleach blond hair and his bleach blond Draco Malfoy son

The slave elf reminds you of the Jar Jar Binks character in Star Wars.. with the broken speech and self masochism that is over the top some times

The trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint seem to be filling into their roles as well as adolecence nicely. The chemistry between the three is great and better than in the first movie. The awkwardness of their pre-teen -> teenage development on screen adds to the realism of being away at school and interacting with others.

The special effects were handled better this time around and not as distracting as in the first where they try to overwhelm. They stuck with the details that made it eye candy for both the kids and adullts that got to take them

Performace of Kenneth Brannagh was interesting as a snake-oil pending type wizard/professor/writer/celebrity that has the plastic smile and provides comic relief in some slow parts of the movie

overall, for a movie that goes 2 1/2 hours again, the pace was better than the first and the kids that watched the movie last year have grown with the movie to expect the scarier moments.