CINEMA: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
July 7, 2009To begin with, a confession. I have not read any of the Harry Potter books.
So when I returned to Hogwarts for the sixth instalment of what is now apparently eight films, I was not prepared for what I saw. Hogwarts has become a hotbed of raging hormones! What on Earth happened to Ginny Weasley over the summer break between the last film and this one? When did she turn into such a hussy? Chasing Harry around fields wearing a long white dressing gown or suggesting she hideaway for whenever he wants her… honestly, control yourself little girl!
And Harry is far from blameless; trying to seduce women in Surbiton train station of all places. It certainly seems that Harry and the rest of the gang are growing up.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince follows the trend of the series so far and gets darker in content and style. Although lacking in action scenes, the world around the cast is collapsing and there is an inevitable doom that engulfs the plot.
The film does have a lighter side however, and it was an odd sensation to discover that the Half-Blood Prince is brave enough to play with innuendo that wasn’t seen in previous films. I don’t remember the broomsticks being used in such an obviously phallic way previously. The combination of cocksure teenage boys, broomsticks and quidditch made the obligatory game a totally different experience.
While some films are accused of overusing the “f” word, the Half-Blood Prince definitely overuses the “s” word – snogging! There is an awful lot of snogging, and tears about not snogging, or other people snogging for the entire first third of the film. Of course, mixed in with all this is the occasional “why don’t they love me back” moment. This is all beautifully played by the increasingly talented cast, in particular Emma Watson who has come on the furthest since the first film. There is a very touching moment between her and Harry that wrenches the heart back to similar painful teen moments.
It was while being swept up in all this teenage angst, that I realised we hadn’t yet encountered any of the fight against evil I was expecting. This was going to be long film. And it was, at more than two-and-a-half hours.
I won’t ruin the ending for you, although frankly if you don’t know what happens I’m interested as to how you are readjusting to life outside of the cave. I’ll just say this; I didn’t cry. Not crying is sadly not a good sign as I will cry at literally anything!
The problem is that the film suffers because of how much it makes the viewer want to find out what happens next. The audience has been investing in these films for years now and personally I’m getting a little disappointed leaving the cinema without that feeling of closure. Something big is coming but this film is a nice filler, and has some wonderfully touching and comedic moments.
However it doesn’t change the fact that I am still on hold. Oh well. Only another two years left until the final film.
Pip Briscoe
its the wonderful movie site that i ever found
well as far as dis part is concerned it was one of the best parts.It had something that thought the other movies of hp kind of lack “comedy”…….i think it was really entertaining….harry looked amazing and so did his best friends….
was the worst film ever ,it literally sucked blood out of the book . it is a nightmare for people who have read the book
[...] The Void Movies, over at http://www.thevoidmovies.wordpress.com has some interesting thoughts about the movie. Half-Blood Prince is just a filler movie, but when you’ve got seven films, how can you explain why the third and fourth were so fantastic? They would’ve been just as much filler as the next two. I’m not ready to give this movie a reprieve just yet, but I’ll judge everything much better when the final films are released. Oh, and I stole the header picture from The Void Movies as well, so go check ‘em out or I’ll feel really bad!