REVIEW: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
As perhaps the most controversial Harry Potter book, the Half Blood Prince left a lot of pressure resting on director David Yeates’ shoulders.
The shift of the characters from childhood to young adulthood - coupled with the dramatic action sequences and not to mention the death of a significant character must have provided nothing short of a nightmare for everyone involved - but I must say they have pulled it all off rather well.
Within the first ten minutes, they have already convincingly destroyed an iconic London bridge with impressive special effects, and the Death Eaters become more terrifying than ever as they appear and disappear in wisps of black smoke.
Harry also appears to have developed rather a lot over his fourth summer away from Hogwarts, with opening scenes depicting the nerdy hero flirting with a waitress in a muggle cafe.
Unlikely love interest Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) is introduced early, but an over-eagerness to leap between awesome special-effect-ridden scenes does seem to draw attention away from the blossoming relationship.
Our man Freddie Whittaker as Harry Potter
Wright herself also demonstrates a more mature performance, having developed from little-sister-in-tow during film one to tall, sensible and clever main character by number six.
The only thing which lets her character down is her odd behaviour - feeding Harry by hand and even tying his shoe-lace at one point in the film.
The script, though riddled with mildly old-fashioned words like “golly” and, at one point “dimbo”, is witty, particularly as we see the whole Ron and Hermione plot thicken with the addition of a very enthusiastic Lavender Brown.
Other notable performances include Alan Rickman’s Snape at his most slimy, Michael Gambon and Maggie Smith (as always), and newcomer Jim Broadbent as the fame-seeking and truly mad Horace Slughorn.
Evanna Lynch once again gives a memorable performance as the loopy Luna Lovegood, and Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy is, for the sixth time, boringly smug.
Freddie Whittaker
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