Favorite Franchises: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Directed by: David Yates


Plot Summary: Getting ready for his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter is asked by Professor Dumbledore to accompany him as he tries to get a former Hogwarts professor, Horace Slughorn, to return as the Potions teacher. The reason behind this is unclear to Harry at first, but it is soon revealed to him that Slughorn holds a very important memory in his head that may be the key to finding out how Lord Voldemort can be stopped. Thanks to a mysterious old textbook that was owned by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince, Harry becomes the top student in Slughorn's class and gains his trust, until he asks about the memory. Also during this time, Harry suspects that Voldemort has recruited Draco Malfoy to be his newest Death Eater and is determined more than ever to prove how evil his biggest rival at Hogwarts has become.


There's no ignoring the fact that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince feels like a transitional film. Up until this point, every film, while part of a series, at least feels like it could stand on its own. Yet, with a lot of the decisions that were made here, Half-Blood Prince, which is a very pivotal installment for the books, becomes nothing more than filler before the final 2-part film. Yes, this film has arguably one of the most important moments in the entire franchise (without even spoiling, I'm sure you already know what I'm referring to even if you haven't read the books or seen the movies), but that doesn't excuse that it feels like yet another 2 1/2 hour chore to sit through. Steve Kloves returned as screenwriter, so I can't blame the screenplay. This time, I am actually blaming director David Yates for approving the romantic comedy tone that plagues the entire narrative. When things should be getting darker and darker as the films progress, we are thrown a film with teenage hormones and romantic subplots that are really just obnoxious to sit through. You can't give us that tone for more than half the story and then throw us something really dark and epic at the very end. That doesn't work here. All the other films sprinkled those comedic and romantic moments over the story in moderation, while maintaining an overall tone that should reflect the main plot. Here, we should be really concerned about Voldemort's backstory, the introduction of the Horcruxes, the bond between Harry and Dumbledore, the growing tension between Harry and Draco Malfoy. Instead, the main tone of the film is more likely to leave you with questions of "Will they get together or not?" or "How is clumsy Ron going to do on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Do you see the problem yet? Because I sure do.

It's really telling that Daniel Radcliffe has gone on record to say he hated his portrayal of Harry Potter in this film. He considered the performance one-note and that he had got complacent with the role. Well, if that doesn't summarize how transitional Half-Blood Prince is, I don't know what else can. I mean, HARRY FREAKING POTTER was disinterested during the filming of this one. Wow. Just wow. At least there are other characters that get ample screen time and development to take away from the idea that our main protagonist didn't really wanna be there.

After my complaints in my last review, I can safely say that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, actually have a considerable amount of story dedicated to them. Unfortunately, in these dark times that are ahead for my main characters, what I really could not care about any less is whether or not Ron and Hermione will finally be a couple. This takes up the bulk of the romantic comedy tone of the film, which is one of the film's biggest problems, and therefore, they become one of MY biggest problems during the viewing. Ron actually gets a bit more of comedic development on his own, mainly from Rupert Grints facial reactions, and I will admit that it got a bit of a chuckle out of me. Truthfully, it's just refreshing to see Ron FINALLY hit a groove in his film that isn't simply Harry's dimwitted sidekick. He's still a dimwit, but he's at least able to break out on his own and actually steal a good number of scenes with his silly face.

After being in the background for about 3 movies now, we finally return to having Draco Malfoy, played by Tom Felton, as one of our main antagonists. Draco is a very interesting character to watch in Half-Blood Prince because it gives Felton a chance to show that he actually has a wide array of emotions he can display on film. In this film alone, we see Draco as a sniveling coward in some scenes and a cold-hearted mastermind in others. Through Harry's paranoia, the audience really feels like Draco could be a threat, and even worse, could possibly be the Harry Potter of the dark side of magic. Not too bad for the spoiled, whiny brat we were introduced to all the way back in the first film.

It's time I talk about the second actor to play Albus Dumbledore, Sir Michael Gambon. Now look, I know Michael Gambon is an accomplished actor (he wouldn't be a SIR if he was thought to be a crappy actor right?), but I've always thought Richard Harris was a better Dumbledore. Harris had that whimsical, wise factor when playing Dumbledore, and you could see that in the performance. With Gambon, you're more or less TOLD how wise or whimsical he's supposed to be. His relationship with Harry we are TOLD is strong and meaningful, but we don't ever actually SEE or BELIEVE it in the performances. We could see and believe that Harry and Dumbledore had a proper mentor/student relationship when Radcliffe was working with Harris. And he was just a pre-teen in those days, so that says how their chemistry could've evolved over the rest of the films. After Gambon assumed the role, he didn't really become important until Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, and when he was used, his specialties were in the action scenes, which I admittedly couldn't see Harris doing in his old age had he still be alive to continue with the series. Plus, at least Harris gave Dumbledore a very distinct look. Gambon looks like someone dressing up as Gandalf the Grey for Halloween.

I won't go too much into detail about the special effects, because that technical aspect has never been one of my driving forces for a well-made film. I will say that a lot of the practical and visual effects have held up well over the years (with a few exceptions here and there) and it is impressive to see the amount of time and effort that the filmmakers put into the details the magic they are creating. Not all the effects and the world could overshadow how messy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince looks as an overall film. Even if the effects look nice, it's tough to be invested in the rest of the film thanks to the bonehead decision it was to mix one of the darkest entries in the Harry Potter series with a freaking romantic comedy.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Thanks to the iconic ending, I'm actually here to say that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince isn't my least favorite of the films, but it's a very close 2nd. This film should really feel important to watch, but the tone is all over the place. We get to see some of our more longstanding characters like Malfoy and Dumbledore shine, but Harry feels like he's here on necessity and Ron and Hermione are delegated to a romantic comedy subplot. At least they heightened some amount of tension and anticipation heading into the finale.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.