Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the 6th film in the Harry Potter series. For the record I absolutely hated the last film, Order of the Phoenix, and was seriously scared for the last few films when I learned the same directed film direct the rest of the films. However I like the books - not a huge, huge fan - but enough so to be excited about this latest film which was originally supposed to be released last November!
So it's Harry, Ron and Hermione's second to last year at Hogwarts. I can say now that this film was a lot better than the last one. It's longer, yes, but at least we get to see some of the things from the original films that were so fun, Hagrid's in it for a while, there's a Quiddich match etc. Keeping with the progressions of the previous films, this one is a lot darker, but then again Voldemort is really getting quite powerful. Although at times it can seem like we are skipping through time quite quickly (often it seems like a montage or snippet of scenes from the book,) tension and anticipation of an impending Dark Lord attack is built successfully and it feels, at the end, like something big is going to happen, the big build up that we've been finally waiting for. It's amazing that that tension is built because, thinking back, not a whole lot happened in the first hour or so. There's definitely a focus on teenage issues in this one, emphasizing the fact that the three leads are growing up. If you've seen any sort of preview of the film they keep using the same, annoying clip over and over again "she's only interested in you because you're the chosen one..." "I am the chosen one." Yes, there's a lot like that. Love is in the air and at some points the film is genuinely funny - but sometimes I was sat there thinking "just do some bloody magic or something now, I'm getting bored."
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all perform brilliantly in the film, each switching masterfully between the carefree teenage happy, happy, lovey dovey acting to the serious let's fight the dark bastards stuff. The film looks brilliant, although at time dark to match the subject matter some scenes were lit beautifully and the colours and grading made for a very unique look. Stuff like the Hogwarts Express (which takes a different route to the school every year, I might add) which travels through really yellow fields then within minutes we're in dark, green-lit castles and alleys. I like that sort of stuff. The opening shot is also superb, a brilliantly done fly through London. Loved that as well.
The music was almost non-existent. It must've been there but I didn't hear anything particularly striking or interesting. Visual effects - yes, nothing special but they looked good.
Overall
One of the best Harry Potter films so far. Yes, some things were missed out of the book. Namely the entire plot line concerning the Half-Blood Prince, the films title. But still a visually stunning and exciting fantasy film.
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