Friday
17Jul2009
Review - 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
Friday, July 17, 2009 at 1:01AM | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint  |
The final 30 minutes of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are just about perfect,
if you forgive the epilogue. We're not supposed to be holding our breath then, anyway; that's
the exhale. But the climactic events of the film - what you're truly paying to see even if you
don't know it - are as good as anything we've yet seen
in this series.
I won't spoil the details. You either know them already or have avoided them this long. Suffice
it to say, there is a battle between good and evil, and generally speaking, we know who's on
which team.
Director David Yates, who also made the fifth Potter film, Order of the Phoenix, as a
more efficient and commercial venture than we'd seen in the previous few years, dismantles that
trust he built with the audience and takes Harry Potter into a brave new world in many
ways. While not as maliciously cold as the great Prisoner of Azkaban, the first time we
could take the events of this franchise seriously as relevant beyond itself, Half-Blood
Prince echoes that moodiness and gloom visually and contextually. It's quite simply a
beautiful thing to look at from start to finish.
Perhaps Yates' other real achievement has the higher degree of difficulty: For the first time,
we genuinely care about the emotions of the characters as much as the impending battle for all
the marbles. And it's everywhere. How could it not be? Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley
(Rupert Grint), and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) are teenagers now, nearing the end of their
road at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Teenagers have feelings all their own. They develop around 13 or 14 and vanish in the smart
ones around the age of 20. And while this maturation into hormonal extremes has been hinted at
before in the Potter movies, it's the counterpoint to the film's darker details in the
sixth installment. There is the slowly developing mutual appreciation society between Ron and
Hermione and Harry's carefully progressing crush on Ron's sister, Ginny. And, of course, there
are the usual amorous distractions that hit teenagers like a ton of bricks.
Reader Comments (11)
I hope this goes into IMAX soon!
Just home from the midnight show which was packed and then some. Half Blood was simply outstanding on levels I won't even get into! I'll be seeing it again Saturday on IMAX which will be even better as it's one of the original IMAX screens that loom up and over the audience as opposed to newer screens that are just big. And now I seriously need to sleep... *poof*
HEY !!!
Just GOT HOME FROM THE MIDNIGHT VIEWING MYSELF TOO!!!
I HAVE TO SAY IS WOW JUST BRILLIANT!!!!!
That David Yates (director) bloat lol did a superb job just magnificent to watch...
Im gonna come back and give more details later BUT I have to hit the sack very tired.... BUT ... I CANT SLEEP ughhh because the movie was AMAZING!!!!!!!!
Yahh I agree, David Yates (director) bloat lol did a superb job just magnificent to watch, may be Alfonso Cuarón would have made them ROCK. I am a great fan of Harry Potter series. My favorite still remains HP3: Prisoner of Azkaban. But Half Blood was simply outstanding on levels.
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Well it was just BRILLIANT PURE EXCELLENCE!
It earns very high marks from me and not only that I had visions of THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRIOLOGY greatly inspiring this film.... and I just read a review somewhere mentioning that exact point....
The movie was great on so many levels.... the acting by all was superb...
Daniel Radcliffe - the emotional impact and turbulence he goes through in this film as Potter was much more complex and great than in the majority of the other films, Im glad he didnt leave the series, the kid knows how to act and will get more work
Rupert Grint - played his position and very much the "comic relief" and something teenagers which this film is aimed at can relate to with what he goes through with girls and typical adolescense stuff
Emma Watson - I love her! something about her and her acting style is really attractive, I think she possibly might get the most work out of these 3 leads after these films are completed, she has a great look, I wish I saw more of her in the film, I felt more scenes with her wouldve been better
Michael Gambon (DUMBLEDORE) - EXCELLENT just spell binding (pardon the pun) a veteran actor who will be given high praises as he should, he had humor, charisma, charm, as well as pain and complex emotional value.... possibly the standout of the film in my opinion, very much a SCENE STEALER, HE MADE THE FILM AND PROPELLED IT TO GREATNESS than just another Harry Potter film, he ELEVATED IT TO A LEVEL THAT WILL BE HARD TO REACH IN THE REMAINING FILMS IN MY OPINION
Jim Broadbent (Horace Slughorn) - amazing actor, what a face this man has, he was meant to be cast in this series! Academy Award winning actor was very convincing and his performance is getting renowned praise... WELL DONE
EXTRA characters and actors I ALSO LOVED!!!
= Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) - such a great joy to watch, everyone at my 12 AM midnight showing laughed at just the sight of her, very peculiar and the oddball, extremely quirky, she brought a great polar opposite to the other characters, STEALED EVERY SCENE SHE WAS IN ALL BE IT THEY WERENT THE MOST IMPORTANT SCENES BUT NEVERTHELESS SHE REALLY DID, I feel she will also get much more work to come! Great casting!!
= Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (child Tom Riddle) & Frank Dillane (teenage Tom Riddle) - just great villains they both were amazing and their performance went together well, you believed they both were the infamous Voldemort, they were dripping evil and what was so good about their acting was the subtlety in which how they did it...
= Tom Felton (Drayco Malfoy) - great enemy, his performance was great, he knows what he's doing, his darkness and turmoil were greatly portrayed, he had great complexity and he showed that well... Great young actor!
= Helena Bohem Carter - what more can I say than "perfect casting"
YES THE CINEMETOGRAPHY was AMAZING some of the best I have seen in recent years and ESPECIALLY FOR THIS KIND OF FILM
- the use of the grays and blacks, and dark colors perfectly contrased with the bright and very colorful scenes of Hogwarts and the dormitories...
VERY HARD TO PLACE IN POTTER HISTORY
- Azkaban was just amazing as well, even though I believe it was one of the films that made the fewest amount of money the plot and storie was great.
.. I FEEL THIS WAS EITHER TIED OR A TAD BIT BETTER ... MEANING IT WAS THE BEST FILM OUT OF THE WHOLE SERIES!!!!!
I ENJOYED THE FILM THROUGH OUT !!!! NOT JUST THE LAST 30 MIN....
- it had energy, more emotion, more sympathetic
- it was charismatic, funny, humorous
- dark, complex, visually stunning,
- DIRECTED BRILLIANTLY
I want to see more of Maggie Smith and Emma Watson in the future of the films!!!
Wow, I have to echo the other fans of this movie by saying that this movie is definitely amazing, and perhaps the best-directed movie in the series. The pacing and tension that built the entire way through the movie were outstanding, and made you actually care about what was going on. I did have one minor issue with the movie, which ironically, comes in the last 30 minutes of the movie and make the ending almost moot to me.
SPOILER ALERT:
There is the Dumbledore death scene, which has Harry standing directly under the platform on which the whole thing hits the fan. In the movie, Harry just stands there, wand extended, and watches Dumbledore die as if he is a scared little baby. In the book, however, Harry is under the invisibility cloak and under a spell keeping him frozen and stuck watching Dumbledore die. This was a plot point that made the tension build better in the book as fans were desiring for Harry to help, but realizing he couldn't help.
There was also the minor detail of the battle between all the Death Eaters and Harry's friends in the Great Hall that totally doesn't even happen. Yates went the direction of less action in favor of having Harry showdown with Snape but get tossed like he wasn't even there. I believe the battle scene at the end of the book would have helped build a bigger attachment to the non-important characters while getting Harry alone with Bellatrix and Snape.
OK, END OF SPOILERS
I simply feel that the whole movie did wonderfully at sticking to the book and placing the importance in all the right places, but coming to the end, Yates changed a couple key details that I feel take away from the feel and pacing of the movie. That battle would also have been the perfect setup to the seventh movie which is full of action and intense scenes, but Yates went a different direction, and for fans of the books, will probably take them out of the immersion that they could have otherwise been feeling. But otherwise, a fantastic experience!!
Brilliant movie. The end was done quite differently than the original book, the omission of two characters and the addition of the scene at The Burrow with the Death Eaters were the only differences to the book - minor changes compared to the Order of the Phoenix.
I really liked this movie. I am a big fan of Harry Potter Movies. The actors and story is brilliant. For more details refer
The movie was good but i felt that it took too long to get anything going, and there were too many subplots so you couldn't get a grip on what was happening or supposed to be happening. anyone that hasn't read the books would be completely lost. i think too much stuff happens without enough (or any) reasons why or any real resolutions. this is definatley one of those cult movies people go on and on about because they love the books or because the previous movies are good, but as a movie...i didn't like it. its only a good movie in comparison to all the other crap that comes out. this movie entertained me for the two or so hours i was there but afterwards i found my mind blank when i tried to remember my favorite part...i couldnt remember anything. i think this one of those -in-between- movies where its just full crap you need to know to understand the next movie. now i'm just rambling. bottom line..this was one of those movies where i just shrugged my shoulders and forgot about. i'm sure i'll see it on abc family when i'm flipping the channels years from now and go right by it.
I am astonished the movie made this much money, the movie sucked. It left out so much from the book, they didn't even put in the battle scene. what the hell. I hated it instead of more memories like in the book they added more kissing scenes, the only reason it made so much money is because people didn't know how bad it was going to be. I was very dissapointed, the book was so much better. How could you leave out a fight scene, you must be retarted to do that. The movie was a ciscrace to the book. I was very disapointed. some people think it was just like the book. WHAT? If you think it was just like the book you didn't read it or your mistaken because it was nothing like the book. Terrible terrible movie.It wasn't just that, The last two movies and #3 were missing the story of harry potter. It doesn't have the same feel or story of the book which is dissapointing.I don't realy know what it is but all the missing details make the story differen't. Like the romance makes the movie less like harry potter, If I didn't know the title I would not know what movie it was. The movies are becoming less magical and war to love and hormones. That is not what harry potter is about.
One of the best Potter movies. And yes, it was sad that such amazing scenes from the book were cut off. But the movie is entertaining and no matter what things from the book are cutted. The actors are all wonderful, Jim Broadbent is awesome as Slughorn, Emma Watson has such amazing scene in the middle of the movie. Alan Rickman is wonderful as Snape as always, Michael Gambon has brought the quiet Dumbledore from the old movies. Rupert Grint has some excelent comic scenes as Ron. The beautiful Evanna Lynch amazing once again as Luna, not only prooved in this movie that she can bring the character's personality into life flawless, she can also proof that she's more talented as a actress than before. In her last scene on the movie, if you pair attention you can see her crying, it was heartbreaking and it make me cry during five minutes, no actor or actress in the world has done that to me.
Helena Bonham Carter, crazy one again as Bellatrix. The special effects are amazing, especially at the beginning, the quidditch scenes and the cave scene.
Nicholas Hooper's score is awesome and much better than his great score for the Order of the Pheonix, In Noctem brings a beautiful hymn for Dumbledore, Ginny brings a Williams-esque versión of Hedwig's theme. Malfoy's Mission brings a flute and piano motif to Malfoy's task. Ron's Victory has the amazing use of the 4 notes motif from Quidditch Third Yeah of the Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban soundtrack. Farewell Aragog has some emotional and celtic tones, Journey to the Cave has some amazing use of the middle section of the In Noctem cue into a epic cue.
Inferi in the Firestorm is at the beginning frightening and in the end purely epic. And Dumbledore's Farewell is one of the most heartbreaking cues I ever heard. Too bad that Hooper is not going to return in the last two movies, but with Williams everything could be alright. Epic film no matter what cutted off, the ending is heartbreaking (I spoken why), the direction is amazing (Yates is good and is Kloves's fault of cutting too much, except Voldemort's memories which Yates cutted), there's some funny parts. It was worth the wait.