By now, fans of the “Harry Potter” movies know to expect healthy doses of action, wizardry, and of course, Quidditch. But in the sixth installment, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the filmmakers have added elements of romantic comedy to the mix. And somewhat surprisingly, it works well. Because if the high-octane action scenes and J.K. Rowling’s story are the fuel that powers “Prince’s” engine, the scenes that delve into the magical teens’ not-so-magical relationships are the oil that keeps that engine from overheating, by delivering plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that help keep the movie from becoming too heavy-handed. As is the norm in the series, Rowling’s epic novel had to be condensed from 672 pages to become a two and a half-hour movie, so die-hard fans will undoubtedly have their quibbles about the shortcuts taken by Steve Cloves’ screen adaptation; there are a few awkward transitions, and some of the book’s secondary characters are brought in for mere cameos in the film. However, the basics of Rowling’s story — which continues to bring Harry Potter closer to his pre-ordained duel of destiny with dark lord Voldemort — remain largely intact. Like the other “Potter” pics, “Half-Blood Prince” is a visual feast in which the abundant special effects meld magnificently with the magically medieval halls of Hogwarts and the grand, sweeping vistas outside its walls. The only miscue comes during one action set piece in which the film is sped up when the characters are in motion, giving the sequence a dizzying, distracting feel. By now, we’ve come to accept that the series’ core trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. And as the teen stars continue to gain experience in those roles, their characterizations only become more nuanced and impressive. (Witness the scene in which Grint’s given the task of conveying a sudden emotional shift through facial expression alone, and you’ll see the progress the young cast has made.) Overall, “Half-Blood Prince” is everything we’ve come to expect from the “Harry Potter” series, with a few added comedic twists from the hormonal teens’ romantic trysts, and nicely sets up the two-part series finale.
This entry was posted on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 at 11:39 am and is filed under BREAKING NEWS, MOVIE NEWS, MOVIE REVIEWS, NEWS OF THE DAY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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