Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince delivered more than I could have hoped for. There were signs, 8-month delay, PG rating, entire sections of the book missing, that left me with a negative view prior to its release, but it overcame all of this with flying colors. In the end, I would put this right up there with Prisoner of Azkaban as the best movies in the franchise so far.

With each successive film, the stars get older and older and are able to give stronger and more nuanced performances. This time around all three have there moments to shine. Rupert Grint, who has always been an afterthought to the screenwriters and since I don’t like Ron Weasley this has never bothered me, took full advantage of the comedic moments given to him. The quidditich and Lavender scenes were good enough but he earned his paycheck with the love potion sequence. The emotional backbone was Emma Watson and she pulled off lovesick and heartbroken when necessary but I was much more impressed with her drunken stumble after one butterbeer. Of course Daniel Radcliffe has the majority of the work but that goes with being Harry Potter. From the first scene flirting with the waitress, all his pining for Ginny, the teaching of Dumbledore, he never slips but it is the Felix Felicis sequence that I will always remember. Who the hell knew he could be so funny by just saying “hi” or “sir” or making pincer movements with his fingers. I am eager to see what these three will do with some of the wicked shit that goes down in The Deathly Hallows.

As is the custom with this franchise, no significant character is given the shaft during casting. This time around Jim Broadbent joins as Horace Slughorn and produces layers to a character that I never saw while reading the book. There was a sadness of a man completely past his prime that he brought to all his scenes. I’ve always been a huge fan of Michael Gambon and he definitely took advantage of his increase in screen time in this outing. It was amusing that the Half-Blood Prince was the title, yet once again the man portraying the Prince, Alan Rickman, only has a handful of moments to work his magic. I was pleasantly surprised in the increase of the character arc of Bellatrix LeStrange. Helena Bonham Carter has been all over this role and I am in favor of anything that puts her on the screen more often, even if it is just to sing “I killed Sirius Black!” Last name I want to mention is Tom Felton. After six movies he finally got to do some work as Draco Malfoy. Now a majority of the performance hinged on the black suit, black vest, black shirt, black tie outfit (i.e. evil) he was sporting, but he was able to show how his mission was ripping him apart. Love this cast.

With all that being said, I want to be angry with The Half-Blood Prince. They eviscerated the Tom Riddle memories. There was no Gaunt house, no Cup of Helga Hufflepuff, and no sweet confrontation between a young Voldermort and Dumbledore over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Yet the orphanage and Slughorn memories were so well done that I was placated. There was no Dumbledore’s funeral, which did suck. The lighting of the wands was a nice moment but the funeral could have been very moving. And I already mentioned that the Half-Blood Prince/Snape storyline was pruned down to nothing. In the end this doesn’t really matter, the horcruxes were the key plot point, but it was the freaking title of the movie. And yet, the movie worked. The story that they told got all the key points across and delivered a fantastic set-up for the 2-part finale.

I could keep writing about The Half-Blood Prince but I need to wrap this up. David Yates improved so much from The Order of the Phoenix that his visuals should be incredible come The Deathly Hallows. And that is what this movie was all about; making me twitch for the conclusion.

9 out of 10