In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny (Bonnie Wright), but so is Dean Thomas (Alfie Enoch). And Lavender Brown (Jessie cave) has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane's (Anna Shaffer) chocolates! And then there's Hermione (Emma Watson), simpering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Let's just get this out of the way: there will never be a great film based on a Harry Potter books. The series by J.K. Rowling is too dense with characters, packed with references, suffused with a bookishness that no amount of CGI can replicate. Once we realize this, and accept that the increasingly enjoyable series of Harry Potter movies will never reach the rousing heights of the source material, going into the latest wizarding adventure gets a lot more pleasant. And Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, despite a few narrative threads and character arcs left dangling in the transfer, is by far one of the best of the series, and absolutely the funniest and most human. The last film that will be set largely at Hogwarts, Half-Blood Prince leaves room for its characters and the world they inhabit to breathe, returning to things like Quidditch and Christmas parties and the "frivolous" things that makes Rowling's writing such a joy. Aided by some stellar supporting players, including the tremendous Jim Broadbent as bombastic new professor Horace Slughorn, the film earns big laughs where earlier films felt more morose than magical. It's not a light film by any means, but Half-Blood Prince feels less hellbent on plot development, and therefore a lot more fun. Harry Potter (Radcliffe) is in his sixth year at Hogwarts, a year in which a war of wizards is raging around him - a war in which he must eventually either win or die. Harry is convinced, as ever, that nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is up to no good. But this time he's right-- Malfoy has been given a mysterious directive from Voldemort himself, and Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) has vowed to help him. As Malfoy completes a mysterious task in a hidden corner of the castle, Dumbledore (Gambon) takes it upon himself to show Harry an incomplete history of ex Hogwart student then known as Tom Riddle and in doing so discloses the secret to the Dark Lord's immortality. On the other hand, there are equally important things to consider, like Hermione's growing feelings for the dopey Ron, who has gotten caught up in a lovey-dovey relationship with Lavender Brown. Harry, for his part, can't stop staring at Ron's little sister Ginny. Evanna Lynch is also back as the wondrous space cadet Luna Lovegood, and Freddie Stroma is funny as the egomaniacal Cormac McLaggen, a challenger for Ron's spot on the Quidditch team and for Hermione's affections. Meanwhile, Harry has discovered a battered potions textbook, filled with the notes of a wizard calling himself the 'Half-Blood Prince'. Against Hermione's (Watson) warnings, he begins to rely on the book, and the spells in it... The war goes on as Dumbledore and Harry make a journey to try and find a way to stop the Dark Lord; but the battle explodes onto the home front with tragic results. The beginning of the end has come. The book boasted very little action, and a new scene is stupidly added midway through the movie as a replacement for a climactic final battle that is cut entirely. But the book's best and most terrifying scene, in which Harry and Dumbledore explore a cave that holds one of Voldemort's treasures, is executed perfectly. Dumbledore has previously always been an aloof and benevolent figure, beloved but distant, but when he and Harry embark on their multiple adventures, he becomes much more like a partner. Packed as it is with Quidditch and Christmas parties and the occasional dark magic, Half-Blood Prince does manage to drag in parts, mostly the serious ones in which plot development apparently requires long pauses to become clear. But the comic scenes are so light and enjoyable in contrast that the pace keeps up despite itself. For the most part all the cuts made from the book are good ones, trimming the fat and such, but the presence of characters like Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) at the end doesn't make any sense with the final battle missing.
This 6th instalment of the Harry Potter franchise is dark and brooding while the intricate detail of this fantasy world is as extraordinary as ever. Memories and dark magic make up the mainstay of the story, while infatuation and love's keen sting leaves its mark both sweetly and comically. However, the film is definitely not for young kids with its dark themes and complex plots. In many ways, it is as though the latest adventure is intended for an older audience: the fans that have grown up alongside Harry, Ron and Hermione. It needs patience to keep abreast of the complicated storyline (and the 153 minute running time) and at times I wondered whether we really need yet another game of Quidditch. But the film, under the directing wizard wand of David Yates looks fabulous with superb production design, wondrous visual effects and moody lighting. There is less differentiation between the real world and that of Hogwarts this time, and screenwriter Steve Kloves, who wrote five of the six screenplays, deftly marries the realities with the ease that the characters flit from one to the other. We are reminded of Hogwarts' defining dining hall with its distinguishing floating candles, the photo frames with the images that move within as well as the familiar characters, like Michael Gambon's Dumbledore and Alan Rickman's memorable Professor Severus Snape, who seems to spit out his words as if they are snakes. Jim Broadbent's Professor Horace Slughorn (who we first meet disguised as an armchair) is marvellous as the new potions teacher: Broadbent allows his facial expressions to convey boyish enthusiasm and worldly despair all at once. Helena Bonham Carter is a knockout as the wild-haired Bellatrix Lestrange, who is very strange indeed. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have grown with their roles and here, each of their characters suffers the pangs of infatuation. The scene when Harry and Ron are sharing confidences as they lie in bed at night, is quite endearing (as though it is girls' skin that is the first thing infatuated teens notice about an attractive girl). Hermione is smitten by Ron, but of course Ron has eyes for Lavender (Cave), and Harry has a thing for Ron's sister Ginny (Wright)... Ah the games of love. There are more serious things however, when Snape takes an unbreakable vow to protect Tom Felton's Malfoy. Harry is given greater responsibility by Dumbledore and the scene involving water, fire and skeletons is the film's most spectacular. Less spectacular is the ending, which will disappoint many. It would be difficult for anyone new to the Potter film series to keep up with everything, but for the die-hard fans, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will no doubt be a princely addition. As a Potter fan it's easy to nitpick-- Snape's final scene is a letdown, Ginny is turned into a total snore-- but that's not the point of the films. It's a chance to marvel at the visuals of Hogwarts, seeing Professor Slughorn turn into an armchair and Hermione attack Ron with a flock of birds. The fact that there's a heart behind all the digital wizardry is a testament to how far the series has come, and how well Yates knows the world that, in the end, he will have helped create as much as Rowling. We'd love Harry's newest adventure no matter what, but thankfully, this one earns our devotion. This one gets a hearty 4 on my "Go See" scale.
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