HARRY POTTER & THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE
July 26th 2009 23:02
Category: Movies
Based on the novel Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince by J K Rowling
Director: David Yates
Screenplay by: Steven Kloves
Producers: David Barron & David Heyman
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Maggie Smith (Prof McGonagall), Michael Gambon (Prof Dumbledore), Rupert Grint (Ron), Emma Watson (Hermione), Alan Rickman (Prof Snape), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) & Timothy Spall (Wormtail)
Produced by: Warner Bros Pictures
Running Time: 155 minutes approx Rating: M
The last time I went and saw a Harry Potter flick at the cinema it was the Order of the Phoenix, and frankly it was the first movie I had ever been too where I had to make a trip to the toilet during proceedings. Up until then I had seen hundreds of films and never once had to take a toilet break, not once, on this particular occasion nature was calling most loudly and I had to heed that call. What struck me was the fact that I knew in the very depths of my being that whilst I answered this call I wasn’t really missing anything and nor would I miss anything, the drama was going that slow and lacked the intensity of previous Potter flicks. So one this particular chapter in the ongoing saga of the Boy Who Lived arrived in my humble locale I did want to see it, but there was a distinct trepidation on my part which caused me to umm and ahh about the whole thing. Then time worked to my advantage and I managed to get the chance to see this new film.
Things have ramped up a notch with this new film, there are some that would say it all has to do with the characters becoming older, wiser and feeling the sudden influence of surging hormones and just coming to the realisation that their fellow classmates of the opposite gender are looking pretty good in a way that they never seriously considered before. Yeah I think that as far a teenage angst and raging hormones go there is a bit of that in the story, but let’s face it folks, it isn’t what’s driving this drama along by a long shot. Sure this is a story set in a school that is one for practicing witches and wizards as well as being co educational but even though there is moments of romance and snogging (as Ron would call it) it is the eternal struggle between good and evil that is the key.
Surely that is bit strong, isn’t the Harry Potter saga all about school life, young love and all the associated pitfalls of being at school? Hmmm that’s certainly an interesting point of view but one that I cannot really accept considering that it is a very shallow viewpoint to take on the entire saga, it’s one that has about the depth of a toddlers wading pool and at the end of the day no real significant substance. When the dust settles Harry Potter is very much about three key things – the struggle between good and evil, love and hope. Let’s face it when the primary character in your story is someone who will be fated to destroy the Dark Lord, He Who Shall Not Be Named, leader of the Death Eaters a cult of dark magicians who seek the very gift of immortality then you want a bit of meat to the story. Not a load of snogging and raging hormones. Sure there is a bit of young love in the story but it does not drive the story, it serves as icing, not the cake.
Harry Potter at the end of the last film finally learned that he was the one prophesised to bring an end to the reign of the dark lord, Voldemort. The greatest of dark magicians Lord Voldemort is not someone anyone with an ounce of sense would like to have as their foe, yet somehow due to a strange twist of fate Harry Potter has become the mortal foe of this dark entity. Of course the fact that Voldemort killed Harry’s family as well as forming a strange connection to him is a large part of the entire relationship between these two inimical foes. One cannot live with the other and at some stage according to prophesy one of them will eventually destroy the other.
This is something that is rather a lot to bear if you’re still at high school in your penultimate year, still then again Hogwarts School of Wizardry & Witchcraft is not exactly your normal run of the mill high school. After all here is a place where you can end being turned into a frog, eaten by a giant spider or suffer some broken limbs for some inattentive Quidditch playing. As I said early the drama is now being ratcheted up that extra notch, the two foes know that one is going to kill the other but who will be the victor; this is what is not certain, although Lord Voldemort no doubt feels confident about being able to twist things in his favour. He has his numerous Death Eater minions, his loyal lackeys, his considerable magical might and fear and terror. The only thing he does not have is the death of his foe, the Boy Who Lived.
Strangely for a story where the drama of the struggle between these two opposites we see very little of the dark lord, in fact to be blunt we see only a brief flash for a moment and that’s it. Apart from that what we do see of him is as a young boy in an orphanage and then as a student at Hogwarts via sample memories. Other than these flashbacks in this episode all we see are the lackeys of his darkness roaming the world of muggles and wizards causing chaos, destruction and fear wherever they go. Not exactly ones for subtlety or tact (good help is so hard to find nowadays) the lackeys seem to be bent solely on causing carnage rather than pursuing any kind of well thought out strategic agenda. Voldemort might have the raw magical power of the mastery of the dark arts but as far as tactical and strategic genius goes he seems to be sadly lacking in this arena.
All in all I really enjoyed the experience of watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; it was an enjoyable two plus hours spent in the local cinema. If you get the chance to catch this latest instalment of the ongoing Harry Potter saga by all means take the time out to check it out, you’re bound to enjoy it. There is humour, drama, action, intensity and special effects a go go, in fact as far as special effects go they’re very understated and specific rather than being the vast sort of sweeping affairs that are often seen in films such as Revenge of the Sith or Star Trek: The Future Begins. A finely crafted and entertaining film that captured the spirit and essence of the book from which it was derived.
Director: David Yates
Screenplay by: Steven Kloves
Producers: David Barron & David Heyman
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Maggie Smith (Prof McGonagall), Michael Gambon (Prof Dumbledore), Rupert Grint (Ron), Emma Watson (Hermione), Alan Rickman (Prof Snape), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) & Timothy Spall (Wormtail)
Produced by: Warner Bros Pictures
Running Time: 155 minutes approx Rating: M
The last time I went and saw a Harry Potter flick at the cinema it was the Order of the Phoenix, and frankly it was the first movie I had ever been too where I had to make a trip to the toilet during proceedings. Up until then I had seen hundreds of films and never once had to take a toilet break, not once, on this particular occasion nature was calling most loudly and I had to heed that call. What struck me was the fact that I knew in the very depths of my being that whilst I answered this call I wasn’t really missing anything and nor would I miss anything, the drama was going that slow and lacked the intensity of previous Potter flicks. So one this particular chapter in the ongoing saga of the Boy Who Lived arrived in my humble locale I did want to see it, but there was a distinct trepidation on my part which caused me to umm and ahh about the whole thing. Then time worked to my advantage and I managed to get the chance to see this new film.
Harry Potter at the end of the last film finally learned that he was the one prophesised to bring an end to the reign of the dark lord, Voldemort. The greatest of dark magicians Lord Voldemort is not someone anyone with an ounce of sense would like to have as their foe, yet somehow due to a strange twist of fate Harry Potter has become the mortal foe of this dark entity. Of course the fact that Voldemort killed Harry’s family as well as forming a strange connection to him is a large part of the entire relationship between these two inimical foes. One cannot live with the other and at some stage according to prophesy one of them will eventually destroy the other.
This is something that is rather a lot to bear if you’re still at high school in your penultimate year, still then again Hogwarts School of Wizardry & Witchcraft is not exactly your normal run of the mill high school. After all here is a place where you can end being turned into a frog, eaten by a giant spider or suffer some broken limbs for some inattentive Quidditch playing. As I said early the drama is now being ratcheted up that extra notch, the two foes know that one is going to kill the other but who will be the victor; this is what is not certain, although Lord Voldemort no doubt feels confident about being able to twist things in his favour. He has his numerous Death Eater minions, his loyal lackeys, his considerable magical might and fear and terror. The only thing he does not have is the death of his foe, the Boy Who Lived.
Strangely for a story where the drama of the struggle between these two opposites we see very little of the dark lord, in fact to be blunt we see only a brief flash for a moment and that’s it. Apart from that what we do see of him is as a young boy in an orphanage and then as a student at Hogwarts via sample memories. Other than these flashbacks in this episode all we see are the lackeys of his darkness roaming the world of muggles and wizards causing chaos, destruction and fear wherever they go. Not exactly ones for subtlety or tact (good help is so hard to find nowadays) the lackeys seem to be bent solely on causing carnage rather than pursuing any kind of well thought out strategic agenda. Voldemort might have the raw magical power of the mastery of the dark arts but as far as tactical and strategic genius goes he seems to be sadly lacking in this arena.
All in all I really enjoyed the experience of watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; it was an enjoyable two plus hours spent in the local cinema. If you get the chance to catch this latest instalment of the ongoing Harry Potter saga by all means take the time out to check it out, you’re bound to enjoy it. There is humour, drama, action, intensity and special effects a go go, in fact as far as special effects go they’re very understated and specific rather than being the vast sort of sweeping affairs that are often seen in films such as Revenge of the Sith or Star Trek: The Future Begins. A finely crafted and entertaining film that captured the spirit and essence of the book from which it was derived.
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