Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Movie Review

Making a a review for Happy Potter means comparing the movie to the book. If the movie measures up to what was written, if the movie exceeds the expectation of hard core fans. I have not read any of the Harry Potter series so I can’t make a review that is of pure blood standard. You just have to deal with my muggle type review.

If I remembered correctly, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince was one of the most anticipated of the HP series. A lot of controversies has been raised prior to its release. A death of a main character is strong enough to make the fans line up hours before the release of the book. I guess it is safe to say, that this movie is also the most anticipated one. Let’s see if in a way, it measures up to the excitement built over the time the book was published until the day the movie was released, that’s 4 years of excitement building.

The Official summary released of Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince:
Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simmering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. (source)

The official summary released tells it all. Love is in the air but anticipation of the coming battle can also be seen clearly. I think this is my favorite Harry Potter because it has a lot drama, a dash of comedy with little action. I enjoyed it but I will be honest, there are times, scenes, that I just could not help but yawn, yes boring. If I have to graph the feelings I had while watching the story, my graph would look like a V. At the start of the movie, it was very high, exciting, a promise that this movie is worth waiting for. As it progress, it gives me the impression that everything was spent on the introduction. But as it goes on, the excitement was building up, the story was building up too. The drama begins and so the story revolves, and starts to take my breathe away, and as the ending approaches, I can’t breathe anymore. I believe this is the climax of Harry Potter, this is the time where all has been established and that gives justice to what will happen on the final movie. It is much more of a prequel. It was like a part of the final movie/book. It gives you the hanging feeling, the one that makes you want to go fast forward to the showing date of the final one. I like it, I love it and I will watch it over and over again.
The performances of the characters are notable. The first character I noticed was Draco Malfoy. Who cannot miss his devilishly handsome portrayal? I mean he is just so attractive, lean, tall with a lot of dark character and not to mention a good dressing style. The next one is Ginny Weasly who had transformed into a very fine lady. The characterization was very clear that this girl will have a big role on Harry Potter’s life. Their romance is there but it has not blossomed that much, though they have a scene together that just melted my heart. Hermione Granger‘s s weakness was showed in this movie, her romantic involvement with Ron is on its most emotional wrecking moment. Ron on the other hand still plays as usual. Another character that is worth mentioning was the boy who played Tom Riddle, he was so right on the role. His eyes shows a lot about Voldemort’s past.

They all have grown and it is very evident that they are expereincing the teen age life. When the movie strated I thought Harry Potter still looks the same, with the same llok, the same eyes, the same glasses. As the movie evolve, I also saw how Harry evolve from The Sorcerer’s Stone time to The Half Blood Prince time frame. He was a teen ager now and very much in love. He still has that nerdy look but his confidence are more evident now. His relationship with Hermione has been established more specially when they share a scene together. That scene is one of my favorite. I never thought Harry Potter series is a tear jerker movie. Yes, I cried on that scene, er, almost.

Horace Slughorn was the newly recruited professor on Hagworts, he plays a vital role but his character does not give an impact but it shows that he is hiding a lot from his past. Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall all aged gracefully.

The first thing I thought when the movie starts was it was visually challenging. The first part was very graphical and hurt my eye a bit. After some minutes of establishing the havoc the Death Eaters are creating, all is well when it comes to the special effects. Aside from the characters, the most element that I like about the movie is the soundtrack. This is the best HP soundtrack ever! It adds to the drama (yes I love drama and I am a drama Queen), it magnifies the feelings, the emotion that surrounds every scene. The musical score is so right and very apt to the movie up to the last note.

As I have said, comparing it the other Harry Potter films, this one is my favorite. And it is worth the time I left my kids and watch it on cinema. It is worth the traffic (due to heavy rains) we have to endure just to catch the last full show. I will try to watch in on IMAX and see the difference.

After previewing my review, I realized I use the word anticipating too much, so I guess in one word, Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince is ANTICIPATING and yes it measures up to the excitement build from the time Order of Phoenix was showed up to Half Blood Prince showing date. Does it measures up to the book? well it is up to you guys to judge it.