All have eaten up every detail about Harry, Dumbledore and their preparation for the much-anticipated battle between the young wizard and his corrupt and evil nemesis as a book, so describing what’s already well known is superfluous, at best.
I also cannot imagine the uninitiated to the Potter books or movies becoming curious enough to want to see the sixth instalment, so why bother describing it.
Let’s talk about the things that matter. There are the usual lavish special effects that just get better with each instalment of the series that make the movie easy to sit through, even for an old curmudgeon-like.
Things also spice up with the burgeoning hormones of our young heroes, as Harry falls for Ron’s now-older sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright), Ron is aggressively pursued by Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) and Hermione is conflicted over her budding feelings for Ron. This Peyton Place-esque romantic intrigue will hit the target of those kids (now teenagers) who have grown up with the Potter characters.
Where, as the earlier films, especially the first four, used the copious special F/X to titillate and awe, The Half Blood Prince integrates the effects as part of the whole package. The need to draw an audience with visual magic is no longer a necessity and the filmmakers integrate the F/X into the story to solid results.
There’s the expected flash to the visuals, but they’re not the reason the franchise followers will flock to the film.
The supporting cast (as has been the case right from the start) is a who’s who of the British film business. Such veterans to the series as Michel Gambon (though I miss Richard Harris as Dumbledore), Maggie Smith, Julie Waters, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis and Robbie Coltraine reappear in their well-worn roles and, new to the Potter films, Jim Broadbent, as the pivotal character, Professor Horace Slughorn.
The characters are familiar to us all so little time is spent unnecessarily developing most, with time devoted to showcase the main players.
The Harry Potter series – both books and movies – have turned from the cutesy, aw-gee adaptations of the first two movies to a darker, more-worldly view of the battle between good and evil. The even-handed telling of The Half Blood Prince does a first-rate job in laying the groundwork for the much-anticipated finale to this favourite film series, to be released in two instalments starting at the end of next year.
– Scotty Moorhead
