Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Warner Brothers Pictures)
I Love You, Hermione Granger
The new Harry Potter film is not the best of the bunch. It deals with so much teen romance that it should have been titled I Love You, Hermione Granger. The first half of the film is downright boring and the last half is downright confusing. Is the acting good yes. Are the sets and special effects impressive yes. But everything else is middle of the road.
This film starts out with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) meeting up with Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) to try to convince Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to teach. Meanwhile the Death Eaters are terrorizing London and taking someone hostage.
I got confused at this point and never really found my way back. It doesnt matter because most of the movie concerns Harrys blossoming love for Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) and Hermione (Emma Watson) trying to get Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) to notice her. Her main competition is Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) who is much more aggressive in her pursuits than poor Hermione.
This is the sixth Harry Potter film and each one has built on the one preceding it. A little bit of a recap would have helped get the viewer into the present offering. If you havent read the book (which I havent) there are plot points that just arent going to mean anything to you.
The three leads in the film are growing up nicely and are convincing in their roles. Gambon is terrific as Dumbledore and Alan Rickman is menacing as Snape. Maggie Smith is always a welcome treat as Professor Minerva McGonagall. Tom Felton is complex as Draco Malfoy.
This movie, more than any of the other five, seems to exist just to set up the remaining two movies which will be released in 2010 and 2011 (they are splitting the last book in two). There is no actual resolution in this film and that makes it feel incomplete.
The movie is rated PG for mild profanity and violence.
If you are a Harry Potter fan and a devoted follower of the books then you are going to enjoy this movie. If, like me, you have seen the movies but not read the books this one is going to be a disappointment. It is lovestruck and confusing which is not my idea of great entertainment in any sense of the word.
I scored Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a half-hearted 5 out of 10.
