Movie Review:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

PG (4.5 out of 5 bagels)


To anyone who has followed the young wizards since the first film you can’t help but feel that you not only have grown up with them but relish each succeeding film as we have watched them mature not only in their lessons of magic and wizardry but also as young adults with all the trials and tribulations that comes with it. In fact even headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seems to have noticed how fast his young students have grown up as he reflects on his years as the mentor to many. Potter fans everywhere will make this probably the most successful movie of the summer season. But what if you’re not a fan and you’ve decided that it’s time to see what the hubbub is all about? Rent the other five I say right now or else you will be completely lost trying to figure out what has been going these past five years at Hogwarts! For the initiated though it is their sixth year at Hogwarts and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) have not only remained friends but also showing signs of jealousy when others from the opposite sex have joined their tight knit circle. Director David Yates knows this and brings it out to the forefront in this installment almost as a growing pains experience as much as a movie about the growing conflict between Harry and the sullen Malfoy (Tom Felton). It didn’t hurt that Yates also directed the last Harry Potter flick, 2007’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” so he has followed that one up nicely with the sixth movie in the very successful franchise. In fact when you think about it the principle characters here pretty much started their feature film careers with this franchise and you have to guess that in some way they’ll be relieved when their Hogwart days are behind them to actually play other characters.

Keeping author J.K. Rowling’s continues series fresh is a daunting task especially if you’ve been a fan of the books but this outing is refreshing on several levels. First off there’s a new professor at Hogwarts, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent who you may remember played Dean Stanforth in Harrison Ford’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” from last year). He came out of retirement in part because of Harry’s growing popularity and the insistence from Dumbledore. Secondly there are more potions in this movie some deadly some quite the opposite which leads us to the third reason this movie is entertaining: the relationships. Harry has grown qu ite fond of Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) who unfortunately is already seeing Harry’s classmate, Dean Thomas (Alfie Enoch). Meanwhile Ron Weasley (yep-that’s his sister Ginny) is hooked up with annoying Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave). And who is on the sidelines feeling left out? Hermione who may be visually upset on the outside still keeps things to herself eternalizing it all on the inside. It’s an element throughout the movie that at times leads to some pretty humorous situations giving the film some levity from the forth reason this movie works so well: the eventual good vs. evil with the ‘evil’ being the return of Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. This is the part where Potter fans will find the most riveting because since Day One Harry has had to deal with demons from his past and eventually confront them this time even more so.

Director Yates has done an incredible job of capturing the essence of author J.K. Rowling‘s prequel to the final chapter on the big screen. I would have to say that “Harry Potter and=2 0the Half-Blood Prince” is my favorite to date out of all six in the franchise. Reminds me of Star Wars’ “The Empire Strikes Back” in both its darker tone and escalating build up of what is going to happen in the finale. The ‘look’ of the film hands down goes to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel who gave 2007’s “Across the Universe” its trippy psychedelic look as its director of photography and 2001’s “Amelie” (which is worth checking out even with subtitles). All of the usual cast members are back including Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane and of course the high flying game of Quidditch (Harry is now captain of the team by the way) all crammed into a two and half hour film for just about everybody.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality with a running time of 2 hrs 33 minutes.