Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
RSSBy Kent Turner -- School Library Journal, 07/13/2009
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Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter |
Unlike the extracurricular good-vs.-evil showdown in 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this time screenwriter Steve Kloves sticks closer to J. K. Rowling’s Byzantine plot, making for a more coherent movie. One word of advice: newcomers may want to read Half-Blood Prince (Scholastic, 2005)—the sixth in the Potter series—before making a trip to the theater, otherwise they run the risk of getting confused by too many characters, some of whom make only fleeting appearances.
As the film begins, Lord Voldemort’s followers, emboldened by his return, have terrorized London, smashing the Millennium Bridge to smithereens. (It should be noted that the book is much darker than the movie; the threat of violence looms on almost every page.)
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Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore |
Now that he and his best friends Ron and Hermione are 16 years old, hormones run wild. They all feel first love’s keen sting. Disappointingly, Hermione and Ron’s romance gets short shrift—their first kiss must be on the editing-room floor. Only newcomer Jessie Cave, as Ron’s erstwhile snogging partner Lavender Brown, comes the closest to a sex-crazed state of mind.
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Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley |
Each Horcrux contains a part of Voldemort’s soul—and he will remain immortal until all the fragments are destroyed. Without having read the book, a viewer might slog through the climax. Even though the movie is already lengthy, you can never have too much exposition in a Harry Potter film.
Directed by Peter Yates
153 min.
Rated PG
All photos by Jaap Buitendijk
