Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I know I've said things to this effect about the last two or three films, but I think Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the true beginning of the end for the franchise. The plot leads directly into the last two films, with the introduction of the Horcruxes and the rising up of Voldemort's Death-Eaters, so it starts to feel more like a continuous saga. This film also feels a little bit more like a regular school year at Hogwarts, it's a bit more slowly paced and takes the opportunity to let the characters breathe before everything changes so devastatingly at the climax.

• The Warner Bros logo at the beginning keeps getting darker and darker with each film. I wonder if I'll even be able to see it when I get to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.

• No Dursleys this time around, Harry starts out the film in metropolitan London instead. The film uses this modern setting to up the stakes a bit, reminding us that the evil of Voldemort will impact on regular folk as well as the wizarding world. It makes it all a bit more immediate and less like a far away world of the imaginary.

• I like that this film doesn't forget that Harry is still a teenager. We see him picking up a girl in a cafe and fighting with Ron over a text book. They're just little moments, but it's touches like these that make the characters feel real and give Daniel Radcliffe some rare moments to act a bit more naturally (rather than doing that thing where he stares off into the distance and clenches his teeth).

• There's a scene early on where Malfoy kicks Harry in the face. It's quite brutal actually, you can really feel that kick. This heightened level of viciousness foreshadows a lot of what's still yet to come, preparing the viewer for the increased violence of the later films that contrasts so sharply with the wide-eyed wonder of the earlier films.

• It's weird seeing the kids all playing Quidditch again (something that hasn't been done since Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), especially when it has very little to do with the plot!

• I don't think they adequately explain what an 'auror' is. Readers of the books will be aware that Harry has ambitions of becoming an auror (a hunter of evil wizards), but it has barely even been touched on in the films so it feels odd for Harry to mention it now. A casual viewer wouldn't have a clue what he's talking about. There are a few other throwaway references or plot developments like this (such as the fact that Harry's now the captain of the Quidditch team( that needed to be made a little bit more clearer. Despite the more relaxed pace, I think Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the film that most relies on its viewers having read the books.

• The main new cast member is Jim Broadbent as the elitist Professor Slughorn. He isn't how I imagined Slughorn to appear (I imagined him being a more like a fat old Marlon Brando or Richard Griffiths) but it's hard not to like Broadbent in such a role. Slughorn is generally a bit of an odd character, there's a lot of talk of him 'collecting' students that makes him sound a bit like a sex offender. Thankfully Broadbent keeps the character as innocent as possible!

• Emma Watson shines in her scenes of unrequited love for Ron. Overall this film has a lot more shipping (which should please all the fans), with all the characters hooking up or wallowing in angst over not hooking up with their true loves.

• The climax isn't as big and dramatic as I expected it to be, but I guess they're holding back for the next two films. Michael Gambon is almost great as Dumbledore (sorry, I still can't give him that much credit!), and the sequence with the creepy undead creatures in the underground lake played out exactly as I had imagined it in my mind. I also thought the wands-in-the-air tribute at the end was a nice touch too.
  

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince actually turns out to be one of the funnier films in the series. The slower pace and the way it focuses more on the teenaged characters allows it to have some fun, and give some of the supporting players the chance to widen the dynamics of the film. Overall I think it might be a little too slow and overlong, but who can blame David Yates for indulging the fans a bit before the big finish of the last two films? This is one for the fans, and very enjoyably so. Now bring on the Deathly Hallows!

DIRECTOR: David Yates
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Steve Cloves, based on the book by J. K. Rowling.
KEY ACTORS: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Timothy Spall, Michael Gambon, Warwick Davis, Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, David Bradley, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Tom Felton, Helena Bonham-Carter, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Mark Williams, David Thewlis, Natalie Tena, Katie Leung, William Melling, Devon Murray, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Dave Legano, Jessie Cave

RELATED TEXTS:
- The novel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
- The other films in this series are; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Prior to making this film Emma Watson voiced a character in The Tale of Despereaux. Daniel Radcliffe didn't get a chance to do any extra-curricular acting, but Rupert Grint was able to star in a British action-comedy called Wild Target.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - nominated for Best Cinematography.
BAFTAs - nominated for Best Production Design and Best Visual Special Effects.