"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Review

In the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry to discover things are not as safe as they once were. The Death Eaters are attacking both the magic and Muggle worlds, and Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) for an important task. Meanwhile, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) asks for Harry's help in uncovering an important memory from the new potions teacher, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). A memory, that will help them to destroy Voldemort.

ACTING: In my opinion, the three leads of the Potter films, Radcliffe, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasly, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, gave their best performances to date in this particular movie (especially Watson, whom I hope to see more of in the future). Equally noticeable is Felton as Malfoy. A character who was once arrogant and annoying is now much more dark and complicated. The real talent in this movie however, is Gambon (The Omen [2006], The Good Sheperd) who never got enough respect from book fanatics for this role. I know I am making a bold statement when I say this: Even though I like Richard Harris is a better Dumbledore in general, I feel like in this specific movie, Gambon, gives the best Dumbledore performance. Finally we get to see a Dumbledore who is not invincible, and instead who is a very troubled person. Actors I was underwhelmed by were Broadbent (Iris, Hot Fuzz), even though many other people liked him, and surprisingly Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Galaxy Quest) as Snape.

DIRECTING: David Yates, who directed Order of the Phoenix, returns once again to direct. A lot of people liked Phoenix and a fair amount didn't like it at all. I am part of those who didn't like it. One of the reasons being I didn't find the direction from Yates right for a Potter movie. The shaky cam, quick cuts, and other techniques made Phoenix look more like an experiment than a motion picture. This time around though, his directing is much more controlled and focused in on the characters and set pieces. There are a few particular scenes that I thought were masterfully directed. And like I said before, the main actors in this movie did a fantastic job of embodying these characters. And you can tell its because Yates spent a lot of time with them. Mr. Yates, hats off to you.

STORY: Unfortunately this is not the movies strong suit. Steve Kloves, who wrote the first four Potter movies, returns this time around. He does a fine job of developing these characters, but dosn't spend a whole lot of time on the major plot points that are important to the overall storyline of the Potter saga. For instance (and my brother who is a book enthusiast had a major problem with this), we fail to really see the transformation of Tom Riddle into Voldemort, a process many have waited to see. As a result, Half-Blood Prince is a solid movie, but not the strongest addition to the SERIES as a whole.

OTHER: Its no surprise that the special effects were wonderful in this movie. But what I like about this, as well as other Potter movies, is that they find clever and imaginative things to do with the effects. For example, a game of Quiditch were the players fly low above a snow covered ground. Everything in this movie looks great thanks to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Across the Universe). Music is alright, even though all it sounds like is reused pieces from the last movie.

In conclusion, Half-Blood Prince ends up as my 3rd favorite in the series (behind Goblet of Fire and Prisoner of Azkaban). Despite a story that is weak at times, the characters are well acted and directed. I have to say I'm looking forward to the two part Deathly Hallows movie to be released in 2010 and 2011. Patience Potter fans, patience.

FINAL RATING: 4.1/5