So we are now at the sixth part in my series of reviews leading up to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. I’ve had so much fun doing it, partially because it gave me an excuse to revisit these movies that I grew up with. But also because I love talking about movies with you guys! Enough of that… let’s get into it!
Ladies and gentlemen… “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”!
So Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, and things are a bit different. This time around Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) has asked Harry to try to get close to a teacher, specifically the new potions teacher Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), because he might have crucial information about a certain dark one. And this sets Harry off on a year of mystery, dark discoveries, and having to further head into maturity. And I was fully invested in the plot from start to finish. Out of all the movies it might be the least eventful, at least in terms of plot. There’s not too many things really happening, it’s more of a slow burn this time around… but I feel like that actually helped the movie. It’s really more of a slow and chilling mystery this time around… and I love that!
Since this movie has the least stuff going on plotwise in any “Harry Potter” movie, I was pleased that it at least decided to develop it’s characters even further. After everything that’s happened in the last movie, Harry is a broken man. You can tell that he still loves everything magic that he comes across, that awe has not left him yet… but he is more cold and serious, and Daniel Radcliffe once again owned the role. This was apparently the movie in the series he enjoyed doing the least, but you can still tell that he gave it his all. Ron got a little bit more development as well, and Rupert Grint was great in the role. Emma Watson as Hermione was also great again, with her character also getting some development. Dumbledore in this movie got quite a bit of screen time this time around and with that some great character development. And Michael Gambon knocked it out of the park. Draco Malfoy the last several movies has been more of a bully/comic relief, compared to the slimy asshole from the first two movies. But here he is a well developed and awful asshole. And Tom Felton gives a fantastic performance here! And also, we get some stuff with Alan Rickman (rest in peace, you awesome man!) that is really good, further developing his character showing his once again great performance. Also, I just wanna point out once again that Evanna Lynch as Luna… one of the best things to happen to this series! As for the rest of the returning cast… they’re great. So let’s talk about some of the newer additions. Like Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn. Yeah, he’s great. He might seem like a very whimsical character at first that has littel to nothing to add, but his importance in the story does eventually show itself and really, Broadbent was great. Freddie Stroma played a guy named Cormac, who was kind of a jock who seemed to have a bit of a crush on Hermione. And he was kind of a fun presence, especially any time he got a bit of a comeuppance. We also got Jessie Cave as a girl named Lavender Brown, a girl who for some unknown reason is infatuated with Ron. And she was fun. And that’s about it for actors worth mentioning… moving on!
The score was once again composed by Nicholas Hooper and I have to say that what he did with the music for this movie is an improvement over the stuff he provided for “Order of the Phoenix”. It’s often dark, gloomy, and outright chilling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as great as the stuff the one and only John Williams provided for “Prisoner of Azkaban”, but it’s still pretty damn good. However, it seems like at least a piece or two never made it into the final movie. One such is “Wizard Wheezes”, an incredibly jazzy and awesome track that is both fun to listen to and also play on the trombone. However, I can’t remember hearing it anywhere in the movie. You’d think it would be in the scene where the characters visited the store “Wizards Wheezes”… but nope. So that’s sad. Oh well, at least the score we did hear in the movie was really good.
This movie like the previous one was directed by David Yates and he did a great job. It’s a very tightly direccted movie with plenty of good tension to it. Like I said, this movie feels more like a slowly moving mystery, and Yates’ direction is part of why it feels that way, which I love. And there really are some truly tense and amazing scenes. Like the scene in the bathroom with Harry and Draco. Or the scene with Harry, Dumbledore, and the spooky water. I’m trying to keep it vague in case anyone who hasn’t seen it (Presumably Morlocks) decides to stop by. Anyhow… the visual effects are pretty spectacular in this movie too. There’s also a scene in this movie that made me cry. Fans of the series will know what part I’m talking about. On a lighter note, have a fun fact: This is the only “Harry Potter” movie that I ever saw in theaters. I know, shame on me!
This movie has been well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 84% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 78/100. Roger Ebert gave the movie 3/4 stars. And on imdb.com it has a score of 7,5/10. The movie was also nominated for 1 Oscar in the category of Best cinematography.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is a fantastic movie, definitely one of the best movies in the series… at least in my opinion. It’s actually better than I remembered it being. It has a great plot, great characters, great acting, great music, great directing, and some great visual effects. Time for my final score. *Accio!*. My final score for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is a 9,87/10. So it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.
My review of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is now completed.
OH THE HORMONES!!!
Yeah I do also think this is one of the best in the series! Less then one week to Fantastic Beasts now!!
I haven’t seen any of these and honestly am not looking forward to Beasts.
Nice review. Half-Blood Prince doesn’t have impactful narrative as Order of the Phoenix or Goblet of Fire or even Deathly Hallows, but the film does shine (at least in my book) as it focuses more on character rather than plot, something that latter films didn’t do as much.
Nicely written review, makes me want to watch all the movies again.
Thank you. And you probably should rewatch them all, since Fantastic Beasts comes out very soon.
I keep seeing the trailer for it everywhere.
It’s a huge thing, man. A new movie set in this universe we all know and love.
I am definitely excited.
Directed by the man who did the last four Harry Potter movies.
Oh well that has me even more stoked now!
The score is apparently composed by James Newton Howard.
Thank you for all the info.
No problem. I just enjoy sharing fun and exciting pieces of information.
I am the exact same. Talking about movies is one of the best things about blogging with others.
Absolutely. The interacting is the best part of it all.
Especially when its with like minded individuals.
Like minded is great, though people don’t always have to agree with me. All I ask for is that the person is willing to have a proper discussion, and not be an asshat.
I concur with that statement. I like diversity in opinion and hearing someone else debate something. As long as it is a good debate and people can back up their opinions, I don’t mind. If people are going to be dickheads, I have no time for them.
I have a decent example for this. A while back I reviewed The Purge, a movie that I wasn’t a big fan of. And the review got a good amount of responses. Most of them saying stuff like “I actually liked this movie, but I can understand that you didn’t”. And they were very clearly open to mature discussion… I love that!
I welcome talk like that on my blog. They make not agree with what I say, but they can respect my opinion and still comment on my writing. It’s a win-win situation in my book. I get to talk about movies and hear all different opinions and sides to them.
That is kind of what I love about wordpress. There are plenty of great people here on the site.
And you can have good discussions without people being stupid or nasty.
It’s awesome. Twitter is a bit more of minefield, but I never really have any problems on there… So far at least.
I don’t use Twitter, I am happy with my blog.
Of course. I’m just saying.
I completely understand you man. Maybe in the future I may get Twitter.
Though to be fair, I’ve had twitter longer than I’ve had my blog.
Ah, I get you.
But it’s also a good way of promoting my posts.
I may very well look into it then. Thanks for the advice man.
Sure thing.
I genuinely appreciate your advice buddy.
Hey… That’s what friends are for.
Indeed and you are a very good friend.
You were a relatively early supporter of my shit and you’ve stuck around all this time (even if you interact with few of my posts). That is a big thing for me. So of course I see you as my friend.
I promise to interact more with your posts man. Thanks for that nice comment there.
I’m not complaining about it. I’m honestly just happy that you still pop in every now and then after so long.
Your site is pretty cool it must be said and very up to date on movies.
Or at least as up to date as I can. Since I have relatively limited funds I have to be a bit more picky with what I choose to see in the theater.
I understand you. I have only recently started going the cinema more often because it can get pricey.
I’ve seen 5 at the cinema this year. Will probably be able to bump it up to 6 because Star Wars.
Let’s see, I think I’ve been the cinema 4 times this year.
What did you see?
Arrival, Nocturnal Animals, Love and Friendship and Spotlight.
Cool.
They were all very good movies.
I can imagine.
Arrival was such a well executed movie that brought intelligence to science fiction.
I really want to see it.
It’s amazingly done, can’t praise it enough.
Villeneuve can do no wrong.
This is the only movie of his I’ve seen, I’m ashamed to admit. But I can see that he is an assured director with a splendid control over the camera.
Incendies, Enemy, Prisoners, Sicario. All directed by him, all great.
I have added them to list, which continues to grow.