What can I say?...I love Harry Potter! I loved all the books and I think the movies have all been entertaining and true to the stories. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth installment translated onto film. It is directed by David Yates, (who directed the fifth film, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix) and stars all the original cast members we've watched grow up over the years. And like each of its predecessors, it introduces a couple of new faces to the screen. One of this film's new additions includes Jim Broadbent- playing the potions Professor; Horace Slughorn. He was a humorous addition to the Hogwarts clan and a delight to watch.
In this film, Harry, Hermione and Ron return to Hogwarts for their sixth year of schooling. Harry has been asked by Professor Dumbledore to befriend the new potions professor, in the hopes that Harry may retrieve a very important memory Slughorn has kept suppressed about the dark lord, Voldemort (oops, I mean...he-who-must-not-be-named). During the course of this quest, Harry also conducts Quidditch try-outs, sees flashbacks of Voldemort (oops, I said his name again) as a youth, witnesses the effects of love potions being passed around school, and suspects a very distracted Draco Malfoy (Harry's nemesis) of being up to no good (as Malfoy works on a secret mission of his own). As with every Harry Potter story, the film follows the characters throughout their year of school and concludes with secrets being revealed, plots exposed and some kind of climactic confrontation between good and evil.
Because this movie was based on one of the lengthy books in the Potter series, written by J.K Rowling, it had to cut some stuff out while maintaining focus on other parts of the story. Although, a bit too much attention was focused on 'snogging' for me, I agreed with many of the decisions made by Yates, and I enjoyed the flow of the story-telling. As to be expected by the Harry Potter films; the sets, costumes and special effects were great. And when you've got a stellar cast which includes, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, and Alan Rickman, how do you not enjoy their characters? As for the acting skills of the younger cast members...although there are still moments when I find each of them a bit stiff, ( Bonnie Wright, playing Ginny Weasley, in particular) I think they've all improved over the years. - I've journeyed with them this far so I try to give them the benefit of the doubt . A real stand-out for me in this movie was a new-comer Jessie Cave, playing the love-struck Lavender Brown. Evanna Lynch playing Luna Lovegood, who won me over in the fifth film, was a treat to see again. And because Rupert Grint who plays Ron always gets me laughing, he remains my personal favourite.
Only one more Harry Potter story left to be told on film now. And I'm glad Yates, who is returning as the director, has decided to shoot this last installment (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) in two parts. There's a lot of ground to cover in this final chapter and one movie would not do it justice. I can't wait to see them. But I have to admit, I'll be sad to see them finished. The Harry Potter series, since I picked up the first book years ago, has been truly 'magical' for me. And as I sat in the theater on a Saturday afternoon, surrounded by other 'muggles', I was pleased to see all the other grown-ups who came without kids. Part of the love I've always had for Rowling's stories is you don't have to be a kid to enjoy the imagination, adventure and wizardry these stories have to offer. Luminos!
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