"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Movie Review

From Christian Toto http://www.whatwouldtotowatch.com/



Audiences lining up to see the latest “Harry Potter” feature should bring a healthy knowledge of the previous five films along with their ticket stub.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” demands viewers have more than a passing familiarity with the boy wizard and his pals.

It helps to have written a thesis project on J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard.

If that’s the case, then expect more than a few rich rewards from one of the most consistent film franchises in movie history.

“Prince” opens with the movie’s most exhilarating sequence - a trio of Death Eaters strafing an English city and leaving a major bridge rocking in their wake. It’s the prelude to the threat facing Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his pals this time around.

A plot is afoot to take out Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), Harry’s longtime mentor and one of the franchise’s sturdiest souls. But Harry and pals Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) must endure less deadly distractions.

Harry is caught between romancing Ron’s sister and fulfilling his destiny as the Chosen One. When Ron isn’t soaking in accolades as Hogwarts’ newest sports star, he’s fending off the advances of an aggressive school mate. And poor Hermione is left to ponder her own romantic feelings for the suddenly popular Ron.

Yes, young love is certainly in the rarified air of Hogwarts Academy, and screenwriter Steven Kloves makes every hand sweaty moment feel as real as if this were any other school setting. The humor is dry, the lines witty and true, making “Prince” far superior to anything seen in the teen favorite “Twilight.”

Kloves also excels at acknowledging the franchise’s scope.

Every Potter installment introduces a new professor to Hogwarts, and it usually means another veteran British actor who effortlessly anchors the supernatural material. Here, Oscar winner Jim Broadbent does the honors as the new professor of potions, and he steals just about every scene in which he appears.

That’s no mean feat given the visual wonders swirling around the production.
Even better, Broadbent’s character provides some necessary backstory to the young Lord Voldemort. Those flashbacks remind us of the wickedness at work here, even though the franchise’s ultimate evil doer doesn’t so much as provide a cameo role in the film.

“Half-Blood Prince” lacks a lip smacking villain, and action fanatics will have to look elsewhere for an adrenaline surge.

That leaves Potter fanatics and those who can appreciate a sublimely crafted franchise which only gets better with each successive outing.