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HARRY
POTTER
AND
(2009) |
JB: HARRY
POTTER AND
THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE may be the most mature, amusing and adult Potter
movie to date, while ironically relying on the
younger cast
members to carry most of the film. Daniel Radcliffe remains
the
sturdy leader of the young cast as Harry and, happily, Rupert Grint and
Emma Watson have more quality screen time than the previous few
films. Grint is at
the
center of two subplots (can Ron become a Quiddich star?/will he and
Hermione
sort out their relationship?) and the series has not seen a Ron Weasley
this funny and engaging since CHAMBER OF SECRETS. Watson, playing a Hermione who's realizing her true
feelings for Ron, comes up with her most endearing and
amusing portrayal since THE SORCERER'S STONE.
It's not
just that all three of the stars give excellent performances, it's also
that they work so well together this time around. Whether
it's
Hermione pouring her heart out to a sympathetic Harry, or Ron and Harry
engaging in late night guy talk about how some girls have nice skin,
the chemistry among the trio has never been better, which bodes well
for the rest of the series.
If there is a serious lack of
Matthew Lewis as
Neville Longbottom (he still manages to grab our sympathy in what
amounts to a ten-second cameo), his virtual absence is made up
for
by an unexpectedly winning performance by Bonnie Wright as potential
Harry-love interest Ginnie Weasley. Add to this list Jessie
Cave
as Ron's comically overbearing girlfriend Lavender Brown, Evanna Lynch
returning
as the loony and lovable Luna Lovegood, and Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
at his most menacing, and HALF-BLOOD PRINCE offers the best collective
performance from the young cast to date.
The film is so solidly built around the under-25 crowd that
there
are only three adult stars that really matter. If you still
don't
like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore after this film, I can't help
you. As in ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, Gambon combines just enough
wizardly dignity with a touch of "beware of the crazy old man" to
create a Dumbledore who is not just the most powerful wizard of all
time, but also a three-dimension human being with foibles, worries and
some serious issues. Alan Rickman gets more face time as Severus Snape
than he has had in quite some time, and he makes every moment count,
milking every ounce of uncertainty out of a character whose true
loyalties are still ambiguous. Finally, Jim Broadbent
guest-stars
as Professor Slughorn, a warm but befuddled Potions
teacher whose well-hidden
memory may be the key to
defeating the Dark Lord. Initially, Broadbent plays Slughorn as a
cartoonish character like Kenneth Branaugh as Gilderoy Lockhart or
Imelda Stanton as Dolores Umbridge, but by the end of the film, he has turned in character into a frightened old man
whose is desperately trying to suppress the knowledge of innocent
actions of the past that may
have set Voldemort's rise to power in motion.
David Yates, helming his
second Potter film,
has combined with cinematographer Bruno Delbonnell to create (how many
times can we say this?) the darkest Harry Potter yet, and perhaps the
most impressive film of
the series. There are elements of film
noir, Hammer horror films, and even biblical
epics sprinkled throughout
the movie. Yet whenever things get a little too depressing or
overwhelming, there
is always a Harry and Ron conversation or a Hermione and Ron spat to
lighten things up. Although I struggled with the book (it was
the only
one in the series I had to force myself to finish), the mix of epic
adventure and not so epic teen drama and comedy works perfectly in the
hands of Yates, helped, of course, by teriffic performances by the cast.
For the uninitiated, the end
of HALF-BLOOD
PRINCE (who's true identity is revealed in a throwaway
line near the end) contains a double-whammy of a shock. How
do Harry Potter
and friends recover from the final events of this film? We'll
find out over the next two films, as HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY
HALLOWS has been split into two parts and is rumored as being renamed
as HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGICALLY SELF-MILKING CASH COW. 
½ - JB
JL:
It's become increasingly easy to
predict the
reactions to the Harry Potter films among the members of my family as
we stroll out of the cine-multi-plexi-plex after each one:
Lizzie (age 11): I liked it!
Me: (usually older than 11): Fun. Great. Have to think about it a bit.
Laurie (who acts her age): I can't believe they left
out________!
(Fill in blank with some 100-page tangent from the book version.)
So within the family, we have a
cross-section of
typical Potter fans: a kid who's read the books but loves the grand
spectacle of the films, an adult who's a fan of the books first, and
another grown-up whose guilt over not reading enough classics in
college has led him to shun most of the books ("If I'm going to read a
book this long, I should be reading WAR AND PEACE!").
As with most Potter films,
therefore, the success
of THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is largely a matter of personal expectations
fulfilled. I was a bit surprised (not disappointed, mind you) to see so
much of the film's 153-minute running time turned over to character
development and blossoming teen romance. Only the final
half-hour, plus about 20 scattered minutes in the first two hours,
advance the saga's plot in any significant way. Fans of the
books
(and I have to trust my wife, who's never lied to me about anything
except her weight, on this) could be frustrated to discover that some
crucial development of Voldemort's character has been jettisoned, while
so many inconsequential scenes have been included -- presumably for the
purpose of pleasing the book's fans. It's true
that writer
Steven Kloves made some curious choices, yet somehow his choices make
for one of the better, and most moving, entries in the series.
The veteran thespians in the cast do their usual
beyond- superlatives job, especially Alan Rickman, always a sinister
delight as Snape, who in this film adds a few layers of doubt,
uncertainty, and (gasp) heart to his character. The young
star
trio (Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson) continue to mature as actors,
especially Emma Watson, whose confidence and instincts as a performer
have grown by several leaps and bounds in the last couple of
films. Dan Radcliffe may have a less demanding role
this
time around, but he's as commanding as he was in THE ORDER OF THE
PHOENIX, while Rupert Grint steals several scenes while carrying much
of the film's considerable comic load. Also noteworthy are
Tom
Felton, who shows his capacity for taking Draco Malfoy beyond his
one-note snottiness and adding several layers of inner torment, and Jim
Broadbent who is perfectly cast as the brooding and befuddled Professor
Slughorn.
(Spoilers ahead.)
There continues to be controversy among Potter fans -- including John
B. and myself -- over Michael Gambon's portrayal of Albus Dumbledore.
Comments on Internet chat boards would lead one to believe
that
some fans would have preferred a CGI version of Richard Harris take
over the role following Harris's passing after the second film.
I
have no problem with Gambon -- he gets the job done and he's certainly
a strong and wizened old wizard -- but I have to believe the impact of
Dumbledore's death would have been much greater had Harris been around
to continue with the role. Harris approached the role with
seriousness when the occasion called for it, but he added layers of
whimsy and humor missing from Gambon's stoic approach. For
this
film, Dumbledore is enduring a slow death, so we don't expect him to
jump around like Donald O'Connor. But the overall difference
between the two can be summed up thusly: one can easily imagine
Harris's Dumbledore laughing heartily, whereas a wry half-smile is
about as demonstrative as it gets in Gambon's interpretation.
I recently watched all the Potter films
again in
preparation for the current chapter, and I've decided that THE PRISONER
OF AZKABAN is my favorite of the lot. But THE
HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is a
solid second or third on my list, which isn't bad at all considering
I've enjoyed all the films immensely. - JL
Harry Potter Previous Film: The Order of the Phoenix Next Film: The Deathly Hallows Part 1
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