Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) by Joanna B — 28 Feb 2016

Although a wonderful excuse to continue with the well rounded foundation of magical jaw dropping special effects, superb production design, wondrous visual effects and moody lighting, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince brings so much more to the enchanted table.

The intricate tapestry of mythology continues to unfold individual piece by piece throughout each instalment means sadly this film can not stand alone individually. Truly comprehending and understanding not only the story but the adaptation you must have both seen its five predecessors and read the book.

J. K. Rowling brings to life the dark and brooding nature in this 6th instalment of Harry Potter Series. The previously highly protected innocence of the underage wizard Harry Potter is no longer a luxury the school mentors can provide its students.

Professor Dumbledore's opening confession "Once again, I must ask too much of you, Harry." Eloquently sets the tone.

The raging war of wizards is no longer a treat but daily reality for 6th year Hogwarts students Harry (Daniel Ratcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson). Facing outside nemeses and untrustworthy internal foes becomes more important then learning.

Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) Harry's pseudo father figure begins to prepare him for an uncertain future. Dumbledore explains to Harry the importance of knowing as much as possible about his enemy, showing him not only his own memories of how a misunderstood young Tom Riddle became the dastardly Lord Voldemort but others as well.

Following this Dumbledore gives Harry a special assignment to retrieve an altered memory from snobby new teacher Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Dumbeldore believes this memory can provide the key explanation to the Dark Lord's immortality; he also makes regular clandestine disappearances from the school in hopes of securing further information.

Meanwhile, Harry discovers a battered potions textbook filled with the notes of a creative and talented wizard calling himself the "Half-Blood Prince". Against fretting Hermione's warnings, Harry becomes dependant on the book and the useful but untrustworthy spells contained.

Whist flitting between the ever present danger mainstay of memories and dark magic the introduction of the teen leads romantic entanglements, physical infatuations and the pang of love's keen sting expected in a group of normal 16 year olds leaves a sweet comical mark on the film.

This film denotes the beginning of the end to the series, some of the wonderful innuendos that have carried the franchise come to a head and begin to lead viewers to ask the ever alluded too questions.

Will the ever present tension between leads Ron and Hermione reach boiling point?

Will Harry's own doomed history in love find a happy end?

Can professor Snape really be trusted?

Who is the "Half-Blood Prince"?

Can Voldemort be stopped?

Finding a way to fit all of the essential plot points into its already strained 153 minute running time was an obviously impossible task and true fans may feel a little hard done by regarding some of the cuts.

Whilst some scenes that may be considered frivolous or have been previously showcased in earlier editions got through others which seem essential to the sequel were cut. Luckily the final book HP7 will be split into two film releases, hopefully some things may end up interweaved back in.

As in HP3, We are blessed to witness the blossoming of the young actors. Their abilities are now no longer just fitting to looking the part of cute kids as dictated by the book but now their talents simply shine as real actors.

With the return of all leads throughout the series and the continual introduction of more of Britain's elite thespian community to the ranks the cast simply goes from strength to strength.

The Verdict : HP6 is more exciting, more darning, more dangerous and more focused on the real side to the characters than any before. The layering story and character development comes at no sacrifice to the action, thrills and spills.

Fans strap yourselves in for the beginning to the end, newbie's get out your video and library cards, you've got some catching up to do.

Published: The Queanbeyan Age.

Date of Publication: 17/07/2009.