Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review
Jul 14, 2009 by Vic HoltremanHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince might be the best Harry Potter film yet.
Short Version: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince might be the best Harry Potter film yet.
Screen Rant reviews 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
If you really care about Harry Potter, Ron & Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger as living, breathing characters then you’re going to love Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Disclosure: I’ve only ever read the first book and while I’ve thought the previous films were “OK,” I’ve never been a huge fan of the series. This latest film was directed by David Yates, the same fellow who directed the previous film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – and for perspective, I don’t even remember was that one was about.
Having said that, I believe this latest installment is arguably the best Harry Potter film that’s been released so far.
This is the sixth year Harry and Co. will be attending Hogwarts and they’ve all come a long way from the kids we saw back in the first film. They’re certified young adults now and it’s a pleasure seeing them on the screen with much more depth and complexity in themselves and their relationships with each other. As a matter of fact those relationships are what make this movie shine.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, of course) finds a book on potions that has copious handwritten notes by “The Half-Blood Prince.” Whoever this person was, he was brilliant and creating potions – subtly modifying the recipes in the book to make them all work perfectly, was one of his skills. Harry’s newfound “skill” at potion-making draws the attention of newly re-recruited professor Horace Slughorn. The professor is played by Jim Broadbent, who gives an excellent and surprisingly nuanced performance considering the (apparently) comedic nature of the role.
It turns out there is a very important reason that Slughorn was enticed to come back to Hogwarts, and professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) enlists Harry to pry some hidden information from the returning professor. Professor Snape (Alan Rickman, whose brief time on-screen is reason enough to go watch this movie with his mesmerizing screen presence) is involved, and his true(?) purpose becomes clear by the end of the film.
Much of the film is dedicated to the interrelationships between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. There is much teenage romantic angst – something that would normally trigger my teen-soap-opera-eyeball-roll reaction, but it’s handled so sweetly and deftly here that it’s a pleasure to watch and really draws you in to what they’re all going through. Emma Watson, Bonnie Wright and Rupert Grint all do a fine job.
In combination with that, the gorgeous, muted cinematography and fantastic visual effects (not just in execution but style as well) is just icing on the cake.
Is this film perfect? No. One complaint I’ve heard from others is that over the course of 2 1/2 hours nothing much happens to move the story forward – and that the ending of the film (which has a definite Empire Strikes Back vibe) could have been a bit more effective. However these points detract very little from the overall enjoyment of what I think is the best summer blockbuster film of 2009.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is rated PG and provides a few scenes that might be a bit intense for the littler ones, and there’s one jump scene that will probably get them – but nothing too over the top. And frankly it was a pleasure to watch a movie aimed at the same age group as Transformers 2 without a single word of foul language to be heard nor anything that’ll make a parent squirm while watching it with a child.
This may be the first Harry Potter film that I end up watching more than once.
Our Rating:
4.5 out of 5
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I never said “don’t listen to Vic”. I was just giving my opinion and thought Vic was being a little generous that’s all. I go off of vics reviews too even if he didn’t like my beloved Transformers!
I had never read any of the books before #6. I only read it because I wanted to read #7 and had just seen the 5th movie. I agree that alot was cut that was really important and Harry didn’t really know what was going on with Dumbledore as he did in the book. I think this one was probably my least fav of the bunch so far, just because it seemed so rushed and didn’t accomplish anything.
I do think this is one of the best summer blockbusters this year, and of course, probably the best Harr Potter film, which is curious because Yates also directed the one I consider to be the worst of the series (Order of the Phoenix, which I did not like at all). Although I do admit it would have been great to see the rest of the memories showed in the book. And the finale was quite disappointing, not that it was bad, but it could have been much better considering that in the book it was great (the book is my favourite of all). I also think that for people who haven’t read the book, the concept of Horrocruxes was not well understood, because they Dumbledore doesn’t even tell what the others can be.
Oh, also why do people always praise Cuarón’s film? For me it was not that good.
are you people blind this movie was awful .you completely demolished so many keys parts of the book now given yes cuts do need to be made to adapt the book into a movie, but still you basically took out all the key parts that lead into the 7th movie that moron yates now has made it harder on himself to explain all this in the last two movies. the movie was progressing nicely id give that a passing grade but unnecessary scenes and lack of key parts including the battle at the end makes it anti-climatic and outrageous!
I didn’t know we had so many 8 year old kids as regular readers… Only kidding.
Seriously I really don’t get the appeal of Harry Potter amongst adults. I was forced to see the first three and swore I would never see another. I hated them perhaps more than Transformers. If it works along the same premise which it should than I don’t see how this film can be any better.
@ Daniel F. Perhaps you should start explaining your reasons, because there aren’t many franchises out there that at it’s sixth film, still feel fresh
@Oscar
Ack, no I have all this pressure on me.
@The Critic
Actually I’m hearing a bit that big fans of the book like it less than non-readers. Go figure.
Vic
@Vic
Since Prisoner of Azkaban (the film that actually got me into a book series I’d previously avoided like the plague), I always knew the big fans of the books would never like the movies because in order for the movies to get better, they had to trim more and more and make the movies act more like movies. The problem with fans (most of them) is that they seem to think the perfect book adaption would be a page by page translation to screen… in other words they want an 8 hour movie with 20-30 minute scenes where people just talk about stuff.
Explain why I think it’s a childs franchise that has very little that I think an adult would find appealing?
Or explain how it still has the same basic premise about a bunch of kids in a wizard school ?
I’m shocked that someone would need either of those explained.
maybe Daniel it’s because the narrative tone gets more adult with each year that the story progresses. So the first book has the initial POV of someone who is 11 and so on. If you found the first stories childish in tone, maybe that’s why. The fact that the stories and characters do grow and mature is one of the reasons so many folks enjoy the entire series. Just like in the LOTR, there’s a lot of the story that doesn’t get translated to the screen and those faithful readers of the stories want the films to match as much as they can simply because they would like to see those images in their heads translated out on the big screen.
Hollywood being what it is and the way that this series has been adapted, they’ve had Ms. Rowlings thoughts on the proceedings from the get go. Since it’s her baby, if she can stomach the changes in Mr. Kloves screenplay, then I guess I’ll have to accept that as well.
@ Daniel F. Ha, nevermind. I recognise a lost cause when I see it.
I disagree with anyone saying it’s horrible movie purely based on it’s lack of consistency with the book. First of all, for future reference, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I have seen the other five. Now that you know that, you are sure not to think that I am arguing anything based on the movie itself. I only mention that movies CAN NOT be made exactly like a book and make the same amount of money, nor reach the same audience. I’m sure many of you can attest to having friends who have not read the books purely because they do not read regularly. Instead, they watch the movies and raise eyebrows on certain pieces of the story because we get what they don’t (those of us who have read the books). I know the movie will be a smash hit, however I am perplexed by the change in direction by putting in the new scenes and different notions (such as Ginny helping Harry hide the book). It will be interesting to see how David Yates directs the last installments (since the seventh book will be split into two movies). Good Luck Mr. Yates!!
I came away from this film VERY unimpressed. It followed the book very superficially, transitional scenes were invented that dont explain themselves at all (even to a Potter nut like me) – burning down “The Burrow”…what the?? The confrontation between Harry and Snape at the end was so weak and barely touched and that is a MAJOR setup item for the next book and for the character of Snape in general. As others have already posted, the ambushing of Dumbledore was done badly. The book is really about setting up Voldemort’s backstory as well as the teenage stuff, but I feel that Yates was playing to his teenage audience by giving way more screentime to the relationship development than to Harry finding out what makes Voldemort tick (more major setup points for the next book)…..AND might I add, where is Dumbledore’s burial??? (unless that’s going to be the beginning of the next film a la LOTR 1 & 2).
All that said, Yates did get some good bits in – Draco’s descent into despair was reasonable, Katie Bell’s cursing with the necklace (very Exorist-like), Slughorn was great, the cave/lake scene is pretty good, and the depiction of the Quidditch matches seem to get better with each movie
As much as I hate to admit it, for me (selfconfessed Potter nut), this was a dud – worst of the lot. I KNOW that they need to compress the story and I KNOW that things get left out but personally, I cant see how Ms Rowlings let this thu – I know I’d be peeved if it was my story. I fear for the next films…
Sorry Vic lololol But its true, youve been saying your not a big fan but you still loved it.
Good enough for me.
@Daniel F “Or explain how it still has the same basic premise about a bunch of kids in a wizard school ?” Really? REALLY?
Fantasy and Science Fiction is by definition, a child’s domain.
Readers of Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Raymond.E.Feist, Terry Pratchett , Neil Gaiman and yes, even J.K Rowling do not read the novels for their “adult” concepts and ‘mature’ themes!
They read them to discover the child within, the little inner sanctum of imagination that exists within all but the most dried up sad specimens of humanity. Those who no longer dream or imagine that possibilities might exist beyond the realms of their own closed minds, but choose instead to jeer at something they cannot understand or be a part of.
They are to be pitied.
‘Harry Potter’ is a part of the imagination, a part of childhood revisited, that some adults can never be a part of. Not even in dreams.
And that is sad.
And lucky for the rest of us who remain unjaded in our views!
i disagree whole heartedly with your verdict. this film in my view is a travesty to the harry potter series… the most pivotal book in the whole series has been reduced to a lame attempt at a romantic comedy.. i have so many issues i wish to address throughout the whole film.
How for instance can the director or even, god bless me for saying it, JK rowling explain the out of context destruction of the burrow which is needed to explain the first 6 chapters in the deathly hallows. its a farce….
The romances between harry, ginny, ron and hermoine were rushed into.. they actually never confirmed that ginny and seamus broke up, making ginny look like a well you know….
i actually lost count of how many times the whole cast said “the loo”. EVEN DUMBLEDORE..
THEY LEFT OUT THE WHOLE FUNERAL WHICH IS THE MOST EMOTIONAL PART OF THE SERIES.
they treated dumbledore like a bit character they way he was killed…. if you think about this… When harry saw bellatrix outside the burrow he (as he should have) ran out in rage…. yet when he watches dumbledore die infront of his eyes by the man who just shhhed him he doesnt move but hides while they run away…. WHAT A JOKE!!!!!
why was snape remorseful this is totally wrong…
i have no faults with draco malfoy in the film, he played his part well the only issue is that his character was not treated with the seriousness it deserved.. he had three pieces of dialogue throughout the whole film…
Harry performs magic in the burrow when he arrives during the summer burning a piece of paper. this is wrong wrong wrong… harry, as seen in the order of the phoenix, cannot perform magic outside the school year without being subject to a ministry inquiry as to underage magic.
Scrimgeour is non existent… soooooo foolish
WHAT WAS THE STORY WITH HOLDING THE WANDS IN THE AIR OVER DUMBLEDORE.. This little montage only gave the stars (luna, Hermoine) a chance to show that, we learned to act we can cry now… its the most forced piece of lard ive ever seen and the only emotion it evoked from me was disgust and the desire to puke…
and being pernicity hagrid too is holding up a wand when in all the other films and more importantly the books it was established that hagrids wand was consealed in a pink umbrella (watch the first film).
i love Harry Potter so much and i was so excited about seeing it. even when it was delayed i was still excited i was sure the reason it was delayed was that jk rowling was ensuring the integrity of the book remained.. i am afraid to say she has failed in this endeavour…
If you look at it ignorantly as “just a film” which im sure i’ll get a few comments to relax and all.. well consider this the plot is so full of holes which will only get bigger in the next attempt. the horcruxes were given a back seat to the romance. So the locations and the identity of the other horcruxes were never revealed to harry by dumbledore in the film. such a huge flaw will surely leave a laughable explanation or flash back in the next film. fleur delacour was nowhere to be seen… has she been written out? although the wedding plays an important part.
It may have been visually spectacular what with the bridge crashing and the fire and all but thats not good enough. not one sight or sniff of voldemort, the first film where he truly has his power back and he hides.. doubtful. was ralph feinnes busy?
my opinion is that if anybody sees this as a good edition to the series of films then they are not a true fan.. in fact to say this film is the best of all the films so far is in my view so untrue it warrants a ban from viewing the final edition. this film unfortunately cannot be remade or recalled and i expressly believe it will become the black sheep of the film series. the attempt to make it marketable has tainted the story and left a huge leap forwards to the next. it is so upsetting that ths should have, could have and almost certainly would have made for a fantastic film if the story was told as it was meant to be, tense and dangerous, not lovey dovey and comedic.
It was supposed to show dark times ahead in the story, i fear dark times ahead in the film series.
While I can TOTALLY understand fans of the book wanting the film to match it closely (and really, while you can’t fit everything even in a 2 1/2 hour film I think overall they should “match”), I’ve always said a film should be able to be enjoyed as a separate entity – and reading the material it’s based on should not be a prerequisite to enjoying the film.
Vic
@Vic, I am a HUGE fan of both the books, and the films. I agree with you, they are two separate pieces of art, to be enjoyed separately, or as companions to each other.
You can not please everyone. However, for the most part, I feel that Harry Potter is essentially a ‘coming of age’ (bildungsroman) story.
The Directors of all the films have concentrated on that arc, as it is the central theme of the books.
There are some scenes I would like to have seen, AKA Dumbledore’s funeral: However, I think that the next film will probably begin with that, which makes sense, in my opinion.
@ Daniel F.
A “child’s franchise”? I think the reason why many adults love Harry Potter is that it is simply a really damn good story. I think all ages can appreciate that regardless of “childish” subject matter.
@sapphomelic
-Yes the burning of the Burrow was a stupid addition. They put it in for action.
-Ginny and Dean*
-When was Snape remorseful?
-Harry isn’t allowed to perform magic outside of school but the Ministry tracks magic by the location at which it is performed, not by individual (which is why Harry was blamed for Dobby’s magic in book 2).
-Voldemort isn’t even in book 6!
“my opinion is that if anybody sees this as a good edition to the series of films then they are not a true fan.. in fact to say this film is the best of all the films so far is in my view so untrue it warrants a ban from viewing the final edition.”
Bullcrap. I’m almost insulted. I loved this movie and I am a diehard. I go on the fansites, listen to the podcasts, listen to the music, and reread the books (some up to 10+ times). Yes, there are a couple of plot holes, and yes, they totally left out the battle at the end, but why try so desperately to dislike something you know is never going to be good enough? I made sure I didn’t reread the sixth book so I could enjoy this movie as much as possible, and I am totally happy about it. I rather live life actually liking the movies I watch. I accepted that the movies would never be as good or as detailed as the books a long, long time ago. If you can’t do that as a book fan, you really should not watch any book-to-movie adaptation ever.
To say that you can’t compare a movie to the book it was adapted from is complete ludicrous! Harry Potter is first and foremost a book series! There have been plenty of book adapted movies that were just as good if not better than it’s original source, including many of the Harry Potter films (Prisoner of Azkaban being my favorite), but unfortunately The Half Blood Prince is a bit of a disappointment. Yes, it might be a decent movie, but it’s hard to love a movie that leaves out key events from the book and messes up the timeline. I’m not one of these people that wants everything exactly like the book. I loved Order of the Phoenix even though it did not follow the book very closely. And there are many things that I can overlook in Half Blood Prince but two things that I cannot. One being the battle at Hogwarts between the Death Eaters and the Order… and that’s not a spoiler because in the movie it never takes place. It’s the climax of the book and it was left out! Why?! And Dumbledore’s funeral? Maybe it will be in the next movie… who knows. I just hope Deathly Hallows is better.
People, it’s called an “ADAPTATION.” Look it up, then you might understand why your precious book wasn’t filmed page by page, detail by every unnecessary detail.
And to those complaining about the changed ending, here’s what Yates had to say, and I agree with him.
“We had [the funeral] in the script at one point and it was a really strange experience. But after the courtyard scene and Dumbledore’s died, it felt like going to the funeral just felt like we were suffering from ending-itis. It felt like another end.”
@Vic
“…reading the material it’s based on should not be a prerequisite to enjoying the film.”
Exactly. What I always say is that if you don’t like the movies, don’t worry, the book is still there for you to enjoy. And I do feel those who haven’t read the books (and this seems evident by the number of reviews from people who haven’t read the book) will find this easy to follow and a wholly enjoyable film. To those who have read the book and can’t enjoy the film because of that, well that’s your prerogative, but as Vic says, they should be enjoyed as separate entities.
It’s understandable for an adaptation to not include every little piece of detail, BUT when your following the plot of a book it’s VERY important to include all the necessary bits of information you need to. Going into the movie i knew that there was going to be only two visions Harry experiences, because i read about that in an interview. BUT so many plot holes existed that this movie was anything but enjoyable. The next movie is set-up so poorly that it makes it seem Harry’s search for the horcruxes like finding a needle in a haystack. This movie was the worst of the franchise, and let me down immensely. Not to mention it seems David Yates was more focused on romantic comedy, then the actual plot line of the book. I was very let down with this movie, and only have fearful predictions for the out come of the following movies.
As a teen who grew up with the books, i really liked the movie and i have a few things that i would like to point out (please note i am studying film at college right now)
1. Harry and Ginny – yes i know this wasn’t in the book. but to be honest i don’t think that the books set up their romantic subplot enough. Through out the series, JKR only teased at a romance between Ginny and Harry, and then suddenly we jump ahead 25 years later in the last book, they are married and have a little itty bitty baby wizzy. So the way the director presented the romantic relationship was great and i thought it was a very tender moment between the two of them.
2. Dumbledoor- The title of the books are HARRY POTTER….Dumbledore is and always has been a secondary/supporting character. Albeit he is a powerful one and one that everyone closely listens too and loves. Only in The Half Blood Prince, does he take a more central role in the narrative.
3. Beatrix Lestrange- Shes nuts….she burns shit… and is entertaining to watch….the end. The point of the burning of the weasly home and Hagrids hut is to show how the death eaters tear apart families and destroy the peace and comfort of home and people’s hope.
4. Sub-plots- I am of the opinion that there are only a certain number of subplots in a book series like this that you can carry on into the movie before the audience gets confused and loses track of the main narrative.
For example Dobby (who dissapeared after the chamber of secrets movie), his sub-story and the story of the other elves and hermione trying to free them would confuse the audience too much.
The same thing with Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom, there are so many plot points around them and their individual character histories, that it would be impossible to fit each pertaining set of sub-story and character developement belonging to each book into its corresponding movie. However they can be boiled down to a few key elements, for example.
Essentially what we need to know in the movies, is Hagrid is a half giant, loves dangerous animals and plants, and is one of Harry’s best friends.
All we need to know about Luna is that shes weird and socially awkward, her dad runs a tabloid and that she somehow ends up being right about some things.
All we need to know about Neville is that he is shy and awkward like Luna, he has a green thumb, and that his parents were tortured to insanity by Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
Not all subplots are bad, the romantic troubles between ron and hermione are integral to the rest of their individual stories since they end up together in the end and since they are 2 of the 3 the main characters.
In closing my only other issue is with Snape, I think Alan Rickman held himself back a little bit from his regular scene stealing portrayal of Snape instead of the sinister rotten character we loved to hate in the first movie. But that is all for tonight, good night and I hope my spelling aint too bad.
I’m not really into the series but after seeing the opening night numbers I am prepared to rent some DVDs. Serious!
@Judy:
You go girl!
Can’t believe I’m gonna make an argument for this film, but seriously guys as it’s been said before it’s an adaptation. One they have to make money and worry about mass appeal. Two sometimes something works in book format a lot better than film. Three most people even in their fave books have one part or two they simply do not like and thing it would be better with out that. Also fourth and biggest the movie would need to be at least 5 hours long to match the book perfectly. Books as you should know come with a lot pages. Scripts do not. The longest movie scripts are still shorter than your average book. Lord of the rings didn’t have a 300 Page script. Those were long movies and they couldn’t fit everything in from the books.
On a personal note I hate an exact copy of something. If I want it to be exactly the same I’ll just read the book and be done with it. I don’t want to see a major change to the character, but I also don’t want to see the exact same thing I just read. I mean to a point I welcome change in a translation as long as it isn’t as major as I am Legend where the movie changed everything completely. The only thing that was similar was the concept and they even screwed that up. Seriously he was the LAST person in the book.
First off I just want to say that Harry Potter is my favorite series of any sort. (over Batman, SPiderman, LOR, Star wars, etc)
I also want to say that I do NOT think that a movie and a book need to be one and the same; if a movie is different but still good then it should not matter.
Now, taking that all into consideration I would like to say that I was slightly dissapointed in Half Blood Prince.
The film drifted away from what made the Harry Potter films magical-magic. I felt like director David Yates tried to make the film too adult oriented and left out a lot of the childish magic that made the previous HP’s such great successes. The film focused TOO much on the relationships of Ron/Hermione/Lavender and Harry/Ginny and left out a lot of action and story.
There really was NO ACTION WATSOEVER.
-I thought that the scene in teh corn fields would be anaction scene, but that lasted less than 2 minutes.
-Then the scene would Draco and Harry duel in the bathroom looked like it would emerge into a great action scene and it lastedless than 2 minutes.
-I still humbly waited for the final scene when the Death Eaters invaded Hogwarts to get my jam packed action- and NOTHING. The Dumbledoore death scene was very dry and dull.
-I thought that Harry would have dueled Snape a little bit longer but that was only less than one minute and then Snape comes over and says he’s the half blood prince. BAM just like that, no build up, no suspense, nothing.
My main problem was that the magic was gone. It seemed like a normal school with kids that had wands that had mystical powers. There were very few magical creatures and no ghosts or crazy contraptions that would only exist in a world of magic. It was now an adult film taylored to an adult audience.
It completely drifted away from the feel of the past HP, Order of teh Phonies, where if you watched them one after the other you would think are these about the same school and people?
Anyway there were things I did like.
-The whole visual look of the movie was the best thus far.
-Draco Malfoy was excellent.
-The Pensieve flashbacks were done brilliantly.
-Horace Slughorn was the prefect casting and added a great feel to the movie.
I think I am going to go and see it again and give it another shot, although I am quite sure that my initial interpretation will remain unchanged.
So far I would rate teh movies like this
1-Order of the Phoneix
2-Prizoner of Azkaban
3-Goblet of Fire
4-Chamber of Secrets
5-HALF BLOOD PRINCE
6-S. stone