By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is spellbinding, even though it is more grounded in reality and less fanciful than previous installments.
David Yates has grown more assured in his direction since his last film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In this sixth film in the series, the cinematography is stunning, and the story unfolds in a stately and unhurried fashion.
Captivating from the first frame, this Potter feels more epic than previous films, which had a less mature, more madcap quality. Yates finds an artful way to meld the teenage romance and inherent humor with a sense of impending doom.
Half-Blood Prince conveys some of the rich texture and depth of J.K. Rowling's book, but it takes a lackluster turn at the end. In a key scene, Harry is rendered more ineffectual than his literary counterpart as a result of plot revisions.
Presumably Yates decided on a less-is-more finale by underplaying the book's climactic tragedy, perhaps because readers already had been rocked by the event. Though this makes sense, it leaves the die-hard fan with a sense of anticlimax.
Yates clearly has a vision for the films, and he has sharpened it with this incarnation. The somber mood suits the story's dark tone. We see less random magic and more mature reflection, which is rare for a fantasy. The entire film is shot through with a sense of gravity and portent.
The wizards are now 16, in their penultimate year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though he is seen only through others' memories, Lord Voldemort's ominous presence is distinctly felt. He has assembled a cadre of malevolent henchmen, who menace the wizarding and Muggle (non-magical) worlds.
Hogwarts is no longer the refuge it had been for Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his pals, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson). Meanwhile, the surly Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is skulking off in the school's cavernous corridors, struggling with a terrible mission.
Harry works with Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) to thwart Voldemort and the encroachment of his evil dominion. Dumbledore assigns his protégé to cozy up to Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) and access a key memory to aid in his fight.
Though Half-Blood Prince is one of the series's best, with spectacular effects, nuanced performances and witty dialogue, its dialed-down adaptation of Rowling's conclusion ends what might have been a masterful work with a measure of disappointment.
Johnny Sweatpants added the above picture because it kicks ass.
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EW loves it too,
By Lisa Schwarzbaum
Darkness is visible from the outset of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Death Eaters mobilized by the return of Lord Voldemort at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are on the loose in London, streaking through an anxious metropolis on missions of urban destruction that, in a different fantasy cosmos, might challenge the talents of Batman. Thunder rattles a gray sky; the camera alights on a heavyhearted young man reading his newspaper in a sad subway café out of an old Edward Hopper painting while he ogles a pretty waitress out of modern multiracial England. Yet there's cause for audience spirits to be high: The universally recognizable fellow is Harry Potter, embodied in blossoming manhood by Daniel Radcliffe. The newspaper is The Daily Prophet, that model of innovative print journalism in which every photo not only tells a story, but morphs into a moving picture, too. And it's abundantly clear that director David Yates, returning to the magical realm after Order of the Phoenix, and indispensable Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves (he's written all but the Phoenix script) have perfected a crucial potion: They've found just the right balance of timeless spiritual profundity and contemporary teen specificity, of awe and humor, necessary to steer J.K. Rowling's enthralling seven-book saga to a satisfying conclusion. Will Hermione (Emma Watson) attract Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint)? Will Ron kiss flouncy, pouncy Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave)? Will Harry connect with Ron's no-longer-such-a-kid sister, Ginny (Bonnie Wright)? And will good triumph over evil? Stick around till Yates and Kloves' final two-part Potter production, scheduled for 2010 and 2011, and find out.
Even loyal readers who enjoy the gift of clairvoyance may appreciate a reminder or two about the plot of Half-Blood Prince. Just before Harry is set to return to Hogwarts, the star student is recruited by venerable headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) for a mission. The old wizard wants to lure the retired Potions professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent, doing a juicy inside-out version of his role in Topsy-Turvy) back to Hogwarts to find out what the vain old goat remembers about a certain former star student named Tom Riddle. (Long story short for Muggles: Riddle became Voldemort.) In the meantime, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is being groomed to do some major evil. And Prof. Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) appears to have Draco's back — as well as the most delicious ability to. clip. his. words.
All the while, the teenage wizards-in-training have enough to handle just being regular teens under the spell of raging hormones. ''Excuse me, I have to go and vomit,'' Hermione announces with a bite worthy of Gossip Girl when she observes Ron getting all snoggy with Lavender, who's one of the great lovestruck steamrollers of teen literature. And anyone who has survived 12th grade has passed a pale individualist classmate like Evanna Lynch's Luna Lovegood in the hallway, or encountered an imperious dragon-lady teacher like Maggie Smith's Minerva McGonagall.
On the other hand, not many teens face a hero's quest as daunting as the one set for Harry, with a showdown scheduled for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Half-Blood Prince encompasses important plot developments involving both love and death. But the story is, still and all, only a pause, deferring an intensely anticipated conclusion. And it's in that exquisite place of action and waiting that this elegantly balanced production emerges as a model adaptation. By now, as played with utmost loyalty to the cause by some of Britain's most illustrious actors, the supporting characters are as familiar as the population of Homer Simpson's neighborhood (and that's a great compliment). Yet with a big assist from cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel — a Potter newbie who memorably shot Amélie and Across the Universe — the filmmakers have found a way to refresh our eyes and enhance our appreciation for this rich, amazing creation. A-
Can't wait to see this.
I just want to add that whoever casted Tom Felton as Draco deserves praise. I wanted to punch him in the face the moment he appeared in Philospher's Stone and he's now aged perfectly into the role of sonovabitch villain. I just hate him so much!
will probably see this weekend.
johnny sweatpants, that picture does kick ass.
wow, lisa schwarzbaum actually liked an awesome movie? when does that ever happen?
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