Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is Easy on the Eyes

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is exactly the kind of film that conglomerates the masses in appreciation of both its stunning visual effects and its entrancing story-line.

HP6 picks up right where Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix left off. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) are still mourning the loss of Sirius Black and the destruction of the Order - meanwhile, they are all still wistfully committed to their waning allegiance to Hogwarts.

The film begins with Harry Potter at a train station diner - his hormones clearly taking the fore of his attention - where he is set to meet Professor Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) for an unknown mission. Unlike prior films in the Harry Potter franchise, this one does not begin in the lap-slapping Privet Drive setting with some hilarious exchange between Potter and his wayward muggle family, so it is nice to see this rather gloomy chapter in the series open on a light note.

The film moves quickly, however, into the thick of it as Harry accompanies Dumbledore on a mission to recruit the newest addition to his library of fellows at Hogwarts - Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), a man whose resume of accomplishment has left him with a library of valuable information.

Before long, Harry is back at odds with the deepening Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), and Harry finds himself curious about Malfoy's every step - convinced that he is, as always, up to no good.

Unlike the book, the film series gives quite a few rather apparent clues as to the whereabouts and activities of the literarily elusive Malfoy. Thus, we are not left clutching our seats in wonder as to what Malfoy has in store for Potter, but we are still curious as to how the show-down will unfold.

As the tension builds, the film continuously departs from the conventional wisdom of literary fidelity in cinematic translation, but it does so for reasons that become obvious to the viewer - continuity, brevity, and simplicity. A few choice characters are virtually absent from the progression (Fleur, Bill, the Minister of Magic, and Dobby amongst them), even in mention, and it will be interesting to see how the lengthier (in fact, two-part) conclusory films will address this absence.

Nonetheless, many of the most crucial and vital scenes from the book were completed - and done well. Particularly, we get to see the magic of Alan Rickman in his most frightening HP performance yet. Though the shadowiness of his role is overtaken by questionable insertions of insinuation (that were not present in the book), he is no less ominous and Severus-ly surreal.

Of course, there are some weak moments in the film as well.

Namely, the chemistry between Ginny (Bonnie Wright) and Harry is lackluster and tepid at best. While Radcliffe does a good job of bringing that stolid appreciation-from-afar appeal, and Wright does well to summon looks of come-hither on cue, there are certainly no sparks in their union as we saw with Harry and Cho in Order of the Phoenix. Also, the airy onslaught of affection offered by Lavendar Brown (Jessie Cave) was a little underwhelming as well.

Nevertheless, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the first of its kind in at least one respect - it catered to its returning audience. It was clear, in viewing the film, that not only would the series be continued, but that there was no need for that sense of completion in itself. In other words, it wasn't a film made for the unfamiliar, but that very fact is perhaps what gives it the best air of authenticity and homage to its stellar, unprecedented, and reliable fan-base.

GRADE: B+