Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Let the great debate begin! Who is the worst CGI character in film history; JarJar or Dobby? In JarJar we see a character created for the singular purpose of being an idiot in a failed attempt to inject humor into the greatest Sci-Fi series of all time. With Dobby we have a masochistic elf/slave who is not so much funny but just creepy and unsettling. Sadly, there is no winner here because the films these characters exist in are most see for fans of the genre.
That's right, Chamber of Secrets may be my least favorite of the Harry Potter books (and second least favorite of the films), but it remains required viewing/reading for anyone looking to dive into the world of Harry Potter.
I suppose what bothers me most in Chamber of Secrets is that in both mediums it seems to follow much of the formula involved in the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry sees even more of the wizarding world but with less sense of wide eyed wonder. We also see Harry face similar problems as, along with Ron and Hermoine, he sets out to solve another "whodunit." All in all, whether it's the book or the film, Chamber of Secrets carries with it an overwhelming feeling of "haven't we done this before?"
With that being said I should point out that the film has several redeeming qualities. Kenneth Branagh is terrific as Professor Lockhart, the dueling scene with Harry and Draco is great fun, the introduction of Draco's father Lucius Malfoy is effective and the scene's at the Weasley home are also great. Outside of that though this film gives us much of the same and often the scenes that are supposed to provide a big pay off (the whomping willow, the car/train chase and the spiders) actually provide surprisingly little excitement. A final criticism of the film centers around the horribly misguided choice of not re shooting any of the scenes in which Ron's voice is cracking. We all get that these kids are going through puberty but it's death for the audience to have to listen to it and when it undermines any sense of tension that's been created when it happens.
Ultimately this film provides little more than material for debating the worst characters in movie history. In the case of Dobby, he was meet with such disdain in the film version of Chamber of Secrets that he was left out of other the other films. That's a strong vote against him, but for my money no character in film history is more regrettable than JarJar. Still, we all lose sense both the Star Wars and Harry Potter films should be viewed in their entirety.