As Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) says to the advanced potions class, “Let the brewing commence.” And with that, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and company are once again battling dark forces in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, based on the penultimate book in J.K. Rowling’s series. Harry and his friends are growing up and falling in love, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is still mentoring Harry and quidditch makes its long awaited return. Casual fans of the Potter film series (like me) will enjoy the darker story. It may not be the best in the series, but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is fun and enjoyable.  

Harry is reading about himself in the newspaper and flirting with a waitress, when he is spirited away by Dumbledore. Their mission is to convince Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) to return to Hogwarts.  It seems that Slughorn was once close to Tom Riddle, the student who became the evil Voldemort, and Dumbledore needs Harry to work Slughorn for information.  In Slughorn’s class, Harry discovers an old text book that belonged to “the half-blood prince.” The book contains some extremely powerful notes and spells. Will the real identify of the half-blood prince be revealed?  Harry’s old nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is once again causing trouble, but this time Bellatrix Lestarange (Helena Bonham Carter) has convinced Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) to protect Malfoy.   On the romantic front, Harry has a crush, and not on Hermione (Emma Watson). For some inexplicable reason, she is smitten with friend Ron (Rupert Grint).  Will the three friends survive dark forces and romance?

Terrific actor Jim Broadbent makes up for any deficiencies in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Slughorn is funny and likable, but we get a hint of something darker. Is he good or evil? One of my favorite scenes in the film is the dinner party for select students given by Slughorn. Broadbent switches seamlessly between congenial host and exacting teacher, and between over the top and down to earth, and keeps everybody off balance.  The most moving scene in the film finds Slughorn telling Harry about his pet fish. Harry is bemused, until Slughorn reveals why the fish meant so much to him. Radcliffe has really matured as an actor, and he has turned Harry into a compelling hero. He is sensitive when comforting Hermione over her feelings for Ron, and tough and brave in battling evil with Dumbledore. Radcliffe’s face shows strength and maturity when Dumbledore says with regret, “Once again I must ask too much of you, Harry.”

 Part of the fun of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is some casting that will eventually wind up in a trivia quiz. When Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter shared a scene, followed by a brief appearance by Timothy Spall, for a moment I expected to see people baked in meat pies.  All three were featured prominently in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, another dark film set in England.  And if young Tom Riddle really does resemble the adult Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), it may be because Riddle is played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, nephew of Ralph Fiennes. Young Fiennes has a dark quality that is scary and convincing. Rickman and Carter suggest a dark evil similar to their roles in Sweeney Todd, and fans will enjoy their scenes. 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sets up the final installment (it will be split into two films) of the series. The end of the film is really not a resolution, which may be why some will find it lacking in action packed scenes, but it dangles some interesting issues. I enjoyed the somewhat slower pace, and the scenes at Hogwarts. Most of the mysteries are still unexplained, but that is fine with me. As Harry says to Dumbledore, “Actually sir, after all these years I just sort of go with it.”

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Directed by David Yates.   Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Jim Broadbent (Professor Horace Slughorn), Emma Watson(Hermione Granger),  Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Alan Rickman(Professor Severus Snape),  Tom Felton(Draco Malfoy), Hero Fiennes- Tiffin(Tom Riddle), Helena Bonham Carter(Bellatrix Lestrange) and Timothy Spall (Wormtail).  Warner Bros. Pictures, 2009.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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