This is huge and by far the best entertainment this summer considering the other blockbusters to have come by this year. Well Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was good too, but all the others were indeed such a letdown. However, thankfully not Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, it’s the best yet among all the Harry Potter movies and also one of the best in this year’s big Hollywood blockbusters.
By and large Hollywood’s version or interpretation of J. K. Rowling’s books have been formulaic. As always Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) go to Hogwarts, play some games, learn some new magic tricks, a new mystery needs to be unraveled and Harry Potter saves the day along with the help of his friends. This has been by and large the premise of all Harry Potter movies and Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is no exception which does not mean the fun is any less. For Harry Potter fans knowing the obvious and yet having to watch it unravel on the big screen is a foregone conclusion, but this time around Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince ends up a lot more entertaining than the previous outings. It’s darker, more serious and sinister and a great time at the movies. The SFX (special effects) are awesome with an exceptional opening sequence involving the Millennium Bridge, and then Harry Potter makes his entrance but is so very obviously tired of his celebrity status and is looking to be ordinary and seeking solace with a waitress. However, this is interrupted with the entry of Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) who quickly whisks Harry Potter away to visit Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) whose services Professor Dumbledore wishes to enlist at Hogwarts and also primarily because Professor Slughorn has some deep dark hidden secrets which Professor Dumbledore would very much like to know with the help of Harry Potter.
Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger along with Ron’s sister Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) make it back to Hogwarts and this time around mystery is introduced in the form a magical and secretive potions book which has all the powerful potions that work right and it contains notes by The Half-Blood Prince. Harry Potter finds this book and immediately starts making potions that work perfectly and this draws him to the attention of Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) who is teaching potions at Hogwarts. It is revealed that Professor Slughorn has some deep dark secret from his past concerning the evil Lord Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore wants to find this information and enlists the help of Harry Potter to get it. Alan Rickman who has made the role of Professor Severus Snape his own too returns and his mysterious agenda and true intentions are revealed in bits and parts all throughout the movie. Most of the movie is devoted to the inner workings of the relationships between Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. The story progresses mainly from there and more is revealed in bits and parts but it’s understandable that compressing such massive books by J. K. Rowling is an accomplishment in itself, but nothing major is sacrificed at the editing altar.
My only con is as with other Harry Potter movies, Harry Potter himself does not get to do much in terms of magic and wizardry. One would wonder how would Harry Potter defeat Lord Voldemort considering he never exhibits any exceptional superpowers and has some professor on hand always to bail him out in times of trouble. The story does lag a bit in that it does not move forward by much till the dramatic ending, but special mention must be made of Helena Bonham Carter who is devilishly delicious as the wicked Bellatrix Lestrange. She literally sets the screen on fire with her deliciously wicked performance. The rest of the predominantly young cast is great with maturity on their faces and performances showing in abundance this time around. This very much suits the premise of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince as this is by far the darkest Harry Potter movie to date (but this is said about every new Harry Potter movie right?). Suffice it to say the movie is faithful to the book and this would mean no surprises to the Harry Potter faithful and yet Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince accomplishes a very good fun time at the movies. Go ahead and grab some popcorn and a seat in the nearest multiplex.
well i think harry potter and the half blood prince was so far the most pathetic harry potter movie instead of telling more about voldemorts past it was dwelling on stupid love scenes which had little significance n were displayed grossly n were shown out of proportions. direction was hopeless n scenes were too dark n hogwarts was shown too shabby.it diminished harry potter series reputation. so in upshot it was a boring, money wasting and big black spot on harry potter collection(well book is marvellous, no offence to it)
Hi Shefali,
You seem to be a Harry Potter fan or have at least read the books. Well I've not read the books myself so my observation was only from the point of the movies which have been very formulaic till date. I personally felt this was a refreshing change.
well thanks monserw for responding to my comment on harry potter. since u r not harry potter book reader u wont be aware of the folly in the movie. well me being a ardent potter fan it was a catastrophie for me to see such good book moulded in such a disaster.first of all the movie was deprived of scenes of voldemort which have future significance like information about hororcruses [there names etc]. well i think unnecessary stress was put on lead characters love relationships n they were also shown quite vocal about there feelings which was so not in book. quality of scenes were not very good n alterations in script was not reqd n justifiable.so in short it was disappointing movie
Hi Shefali,
Thanks for the update. Guess I have to read the books for myself and then watch the movie. Among the latest authors I've only read Dan Brown!