J: To borrow from Harry and his friends, this movie is absolutely brilliant! Half Blood Prince is a very mature movie, much like the book that was my favorite of the series. It is evident from the very beginning this is a much darker and more serious movie than the rest. And sometimes not being a rabid Potter fan has its advantages, like when one gets to enjoy a terrific movie while not being bothered by the baggage of being pissed off about everything that has been left out. I would have liked a bit more of Voldemort’s back story, like the origins of the ring that becomes one of the Horcrux’s in the movie, but I understand the need for paring out so many of these details.David Yates returns as director and does an exceptional job with a film that relies more on character than it does on magic and special effects. However, the FX that are used are well done and not at all overwhelming. The core cast returns too, with a wonderful addition of James Broadbent as daffy Prof. Horace Slughorn, who has a secret that Harry and Prof. Dumbledore need to solve the puzzle of Lord Voldemort.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts vindicated because the wizarding world now knows that Lord Voldemort (no Ralph Fiennes this go because we see him as the child, Tom Riddle, that is his origin) has returned and is killing wizards and Muggles alike. Prof. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) enlists Harry’s help in gathering memories to piece together Voldemort’s past and discover his secrets so as to find a way to destroy him, with tragic consequences. This is the second movie in the series to end in a death and hints at what is ahead with the next installment, The Deathly Hallows, which is wisely being filmed in two parts.
In all, this movie is far more than a good Harry Potter movie, it is a great movie on its on merits. If this is any hint of what’s ahead, I have to admit I’m pretty excited. I just hope the movie gets made before these wonderful student wizards are ready to retire to the old wizards home!
K: I agree with my partner in crime that this was the best Harry Potter movie yet. I think much of it has to do with being able to dispense with the "ooh, look at that cool new spell Hermione can do" and the "oh no, a cave a troll in the girl's bathroom" type gimmicks and get down to the nitty gritty story that's been brewing for six books.
Even if you've never read the books and have only seen the movies, you know that a war is coming. It's always been leading to a showdown between Harry and Voldemort. Half Blood Prince is a great set-up for the ending of the series. I understand the need to cut out as much from the books as possible to get the movie down to a good running time, but the movie-only people (I feel) have been cheated out of the entire back story of Tom Riddle/Voldemort. While not entirely necessary, it seems like something everyone should know going into the Deathly Hallows. It only seems fair since we've been exposed to most of Harry's back story and this series ostensibly centers around those two and how and why they're bound together through Trelawney's prophecy (though we discover at the end of the last book that the series is really about two other characters, but I won't spoil that for those of you who haven't read the books).
And now I'm going to whine about other scenes missing from the movie because I'm a huge Potter dork. The most satisfying scene in the book, and possibly the whole series, was when Dumbledore came to pick up Harry from the Dursley's and gave them all the big old what for, Dumbledore-style of course. Those horrible people have had that coming for a long time and I would have loved to see them get what's coming to them on screen. I also would have liked to see the opening chapter, The Other Minister, where the Prime Minister (unwillingly) meets the Minister of Magic who has to explain that all the disasters occurring in England are actually caused by bad wizards. They even could have gotten Michael Sheen to play the Prime Minister (he plays Tony Blair in just about half the movies he's in). It's a funny chapter in the book and it would have brought a moment of levity to a dark movie. As would the scenes at the Weasley's in the beginning with Fleur Delacour, who the rest of the kids nickname Phlegm due to her overbearing personality. But at 2 1/2 hours I understand why these scenes were cut.
This is a fabulous must-see movie. The seasoned actors are great as you would expect (Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane). But this movie also highlights how good the kids have become. They've all done a little bit of work outside of the Potterverse and it's improved their acting in these movies. Emma Watson has always been the best actor of the main trio, but Daniel Radcliff's stage work on Equus has brought him up to the level of the adult actors in the movie. I think he now has the ability to believably pull off all the horrible and wonderful things that happen in Deathly Hallows. If only I had one of those darn time-turners I could speed myself ahead to watch the last two installments right now!
