Harry Potter has finally come of age and Hogwarts has its moments of ‘Animal House’ worthy antics in ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.’ Somewhere along the line he dumped that other chick he was making eyes at in the previous two films and has finally decided on his best friend’s little sister who had a major crush on him in the second film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.’ Speaking of Ron Weasley (ginger-haired Rupert Grint) in this movie it is his turn to be the hot guy in potions class, which wasn’t necessarily something I remember from the J. K. Rowling book. In 
fact there are many elements in this film that weren’t in the book and vice versa, which I liked. In some ways it reminded me of the direction the TV show ‘True Blood’ has taken from the ‘Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries.’ The book still provides the outline of the story, but the writer Steve Kloves (who has apparently had a hand in all of the Potter scripts except for ‘The Order of the Phoenix’) and director David Yates (who is set to direct the next two movies based on the last book in the series, ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows’) have put in dialogue and reaction shots that tend to work better in a movie medium then they would in written word.
Listen, no one was more surprised than me when the gang seemed to be getting drunk on butter beer, but I suppose the legal drinking age might be different in Great Britain…and the world of wizardry and witchcraft. More than the drinking there 
was the snogging. Goodness, lots of hormones raging, in fact during the movie I was entertained by some teen boys sitting behind me who noted that Ron was “goin’ to get him some,” which I took as a euphemism meaning courting (those darn kids and their awakening sexual drive). I did want to ask them a question after the film, but didn’t because I’m shy, when they got up one of them noted that this ‘Harry Potter’ film was one of the worst movies he had seen this year. I wanted to ask the guy why he thought that and if he if they happened to see ‘Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen’ because that movie made this Harry Potter film look like ‘Citizen Kane,’ but as I stated earlier, I’m painfully shy.
What I liked about the film, and the book if I remember it correctly, was that it focused on the relationship between Harry and Professor Albus Dumbledore, played by Michael Gambon. This movie also contained the scariest scene in a Potter movie I 
have ever seen. If I didn’t already know that Potter was going to live for the last installment of the franchise, I would have been concerned he wasn’t going to make it.
I admit I really like the Potter films. It is hard to believe that the first one was released in 2001 and the three main leads looked so small and…well, small. Now they are branching off to either college (Emma Watson is attending one of the Ivy League schools in the states) or other projects (Daniel Radcliff starred in ‘Equus’ in both London and New York productions). Thus far it doesn’t appear as if any of them have demonstrated the Linsanity that has plagued other child stars who spend their teens burdened with fame.
Overall, I find one of the delights in watching these films is that they attract such wonderful talent who play such fun supporting roles. In this movie we are introduced to Jim Broadbent’s Horace Slughorn as well as the returning faces of Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, and Robbie Coltrane. I also want to single out Tom Felton who plays Draco Malfoy because the guy has to live down his Potter (Nellie Olsen) persona after the franchise is over. His role as Malfoy this time around required him not only to be nasty but also show the kind of apprehension of a person who is cornered and uncertain.
In a week or two ‘Half Blood Prince’ will be out in the theaters in 3D and IMAX formats and based on what I could imagine the 3D would look like from just a normal showing, I think it will be a treat. The reason for the delay was some prearrangement with Paramount Pictures that pushed back the special versions of Warner Brothers produced Potter. (Yet another reason to hate that stupid ‘Transformers’ movie.) If you haven’t seen the movie now, perhaps you should wait and see it on the special 3D IMAX showings – I know I’m going to go back for seconds (feel free to insert your nerd joke here).
Westerfield © 2009
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Comments: 52
Since you mentioned checking the time I will share what happened to us. We went to the midnight showing. It was playing in six of the theaters and we were in #5. There was some issue with the start up so there was a brief delay. I guess it loops through each theater so they should all begin within minutes of each other. When it hit #5 it had another problem. # 5 and 6 waited an additional 45 minutes for it to start. Surprisingly no one walked out but there was grumbling. Management told us our ticket stubs are good for one free movie.
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Yet another good review from you, Lisa. Ten stars from me.
"Half Blood Prince" is one of my favorites although it does rely on some things like school discipline interfering with quidditch that Rowling overused.
Someday I'm going to watch all the movies in secret. :)
Aniko, I like that thought.
Birdee, that is sad. Both of those movies were fun, even if you aren't a fan either series.
Interesting side note: I'm a movie soundtrack buff, and while John Williams did the first three or four soundtracks and created the "Harry Potter theme," different composers have stepped in since. I wonder why? The composer this time was totally unfamiliar to me, but the music was lovely.
I didn't even know John Williams did the original theme. I do remember thinking that the music was nice, I'll have to concentrate more on it.
I know which one you're referring to and I absolutely agree!
I really liked the movie. But my friend I went to go see it with thought it was the most boring in the series. I guess they can't please everyone.
I was most surprised by how hormonal everyone was in the movies. But they are teenagers, so I guess it makes sense.
(I don't know about Britain, but there's certainly much less hysteria here about young people taking a few sips of alcohol than in the States. Then of course, they can't get a driver's license until they're 18, so the consequences of those sips aren't that scary, in most cases.)
You're right,Aniko - no licence until you're 18... but most of us were drinking at 16 plus!