July 2009
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12a)
Printed 15th July 2009

After the dual disappointment of the first dip in form from the five-strong film series last time out (sorry Order of the Phoenix sympathisers, but that’s a fact) and the extra eight-month wait for this next instalment after WB bigwigs realised they’d make more money releasing the flick amongst the writers strike-affected sparse Summer ‘09 (which means, of course, that the DVD will come out... oh... just in time for Christmas, how convenient), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a lot to live up to. Good thing returning OOP director David Yates and the rest of the usual suspects have knocked this one out the Quidditch Park then.

By far the funniest HP film so far, Half-Blood injects a most welcome spell of fun and laugh-out-loud humour to help balance out the ever-darkening tone of the overarching story. For those few that haven’t read Rowling’s novels, Harry’s ever more difficult sixth year begins with Voldemort’s Death Eaters wreaking havoc in both the magic and muggle worlds as individuals disappear and man-made structures are destroyed.

Back at Hogwarts, Snape has finally got the Defence Against the Dark Arts job he’s coveted for so long whilst his Potions Master position has been taken up by new Professor Horace Slughorn (latest terrifically-performing British legend to Team HP Jim Broadbent). A former Hogwarts teacher enticed back by the opportunity to tutor Harry, Slughorn is a man with ties to Tom Riddle’s time at school and a possible window to his (important for the future) past. If Harry can get into his confidence.

Meanwhile our favourite characters’ relationships deepen, alter and grow whilst other bonds are broken forever. One thing’s for certain, come year’s and movie’s end nothing will be the same for every single member of out much-beloved ensemble.

And here’s where Half-Blood gets it so right: this is an ensemble escapade making the most of the magic cast, not a streamlined Harry-obsessed adventure unlike OOP especially and Goblet to a lesser extent. Ron (Rupert Grint) has more to do than just gurn, Hermione (Emma Watson) does more than just dole out words of wisdom, whilst Dumbledore takes over the central hero role from Harry in much the same way Doc Brown did from Marty in Back to the Future III. Hell even Draco (Tom Felton) gets some meaty dramatics here rather than the token scenes of bad-boy bullying normally afforded him.

What’s so great is that this refocusing doesn’t diminish in any way the performance of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry or impact his characters journey. If anything it enriches it. From the-boy-who-fluffed-his-lines (“A... a... a wizard”) to the-man-that-puts-nary-a-foot-wrong, his development as an actor is astonishing. He now excels at delivering the BIG dramatic beats, but even more impressive are the quieter moments when he is asked to act naturally. He just has such a way and confidence about him now that whether he is screaming bloody murder at his enemies or goofing it up amongst his friends or nonchalantly delivering a throwaway line or look, it all seems so instinctive and effortless.

What must be so gratifying for everyone behind the scenes is how well everyone else has also grown around him too. We can spend so much time with Ron and Hermione because they are both so good in the roles now as well, their acting here a cut-above anything else seen from them before. Of course improvement was never an issue for the more experienced heads of the ever-expanding cast (Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Julie Walters, Warwick Davies, Mark Williams, David Thewlis and Helena Bonham Carter). Consistency is, however, but never fear those that are called upon here are as good as ever. Most satisfying of all though, in this particular instalment, must be the performance of Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley. When she was first cast and all the books weren’t yet completed, uber-producer David Heyman and his team could probably never have imagined what an important role her character would come to play. That Bonnie Wright has been there from the very start, that she has developed into such an accomplished actress and that she is so perfect for the part of Ginny is surely beyond anyone’s wildest expectations or clairvoyance. She is a revelation here, which her fleeting background glimpses haven’t ever hinted at before.

Half-Blood itself begins wonderfully, the very first shot playing with a sense of foreshadowing and lending the entire film an overall feeling of foreboding throughout as Dumbledore protects Harry just as a father would after the concluding events of OOP. It also ties into the overall story arc as no other Potter has done before, taking the new Bond template and aiming to work more as one flowing narrative rather than another stand-alone adventure. This sense completes the film as well as we leave not on a freeze-frame or a cheesy wrap-up coda this time, but on a teaser of what is in store in Deathly Hallows (Parts I & II). Never have Dumbledore’s words seemed more appropriate (“Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry”).

Perhaps this is director’s David Yates’ biggest single contribution to this particular Potter part and simultaneously the benefit of now having a single director to complete the run-in? No longer do with have episodes in the style of their individual director but a sequence of films each building upon the last until we reach Rowling’s conclusion. Idiosyncratic instalments worked well up until this point admittedly, but now we’re in the run-in it’s more fitting that this latter sequence of films narratively and visually flow like the series has never before. In fact the close links between Half-Blood and its forbearer actually makes OOP a better film in retrospect.

Yates has also grown in the confidence of his convictions, that much is clear. Previously in OOP everything looked good and most of the individual moments were handled well, but it was all just a little bit too rushed. It’s as if if he lingered on anything one thing for too long or looked outside the central Harry story he’d be accused of losing focus and being out of his depth (this was his first big screen gig after working in TV, his best work being the superlative BBC mini-series State of Play). This time around however we get a much more epic runtime and overall feel to proceedings and a much more complex and convoluted plot without it ever feeling overlong or too difficult-to-follow. Basically the exact feel you get when reading one of the books. Exposition is also supplied without it feeling like its being pointedly provided for a change whilst the all-important action set-pieces are perfectly-realised and paced (the attack on the Weasley homestead and the fight against the Inferi the stand-outs, much more so than the vaunted attack by the Death Eaters on the Millennium Bridge). His presence behind the camera for the double Deathly Hallows bill is most welcome on this evidence.

The big finish and the inevitable demise of a MAJOR character is also much better handled here than the loss of Sirius previously. We pause and actually allow for it to sink in, rather than have to move onto the next set-piece before the momentum is lost. This deserves (as did Sirius) the time and perhaps is something realised from errors earlier made? Whatever the case, the rectifying is welcome.

As is the film as a whole. So much so that this is by some distance the best Potterventure thus far, even eclipsing Alfonso Cuarón’s spectacular third instalment. In fact so good is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that you could go so far as to say that come the films conclusion the whole shebang has a LOTR feel and quality to it. Some praise indeed. So bring on the Deathly Hallows, perhaps that extra wait (making the time between Half-Blood and Hallows markedly shorter, Part I due November 2010) was ultimately a blessing in Polyjuice Potion?

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