REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 7/10
I have always had a gripe with the Harry Potter films, being a big fan of the books, the films could of course never live up to the amazing world created in J K Rowling’s wonderful novels. However, in its sixth outing, the Potter films have finally started to come together. Everything has almost fallen into place, it is just a shame it has taken so long to get here.
Harry, coping from the tragic death of his Godfather Sirius, returns to Hogwarts with the threat of the death eaters roaming the lands, even infiltrating muggle world. Things also get a bit steamy as lurrrve is in the air, or at least teen lust in a PG rated context. The main bulk of the story includes the deliciously named ‘horcruxes’, a dangerous spell with the ability to conceal a person’s (i.e. Voldermort’s) soul, thus enabling them to live forever. With the help from new Professor Slughorn and a few trips into the pensive, Harry must once again battle for good.
When one compares this to the original film, the Philosophers (oh sorry sorcerers) stone, it is barely recognisable as being part of the same franchise. Everything is so much more grown up, darker in its themes, content and imagery. Gone are the chocolate box, Christmas feeling of warmness, bright colours and majestic music, this is grim, dark, cold and creepy in places.
The actors have mostly grown successfully into their roles, Daniel Radcliffe is effective here, and he manages to deliver some funny lines and feels like a leading man now, not just the kid who looked like how the book described him. Rupert Grint really shines, he has genuine comic timing and is given a lot more to do, and is central to the lurrrve theme. Emma Watson, easily the weakest of the three, seems to think that emoting means increasing eyebrow movement to convey feelings of angst, but 2 out of 3 good lead performances is not bad. The adults all shine in their limited roles, Helena Bonham Carter is mad as a snake and Alan Rickman is good fun as Snape. Jim Broadbent’s new addition of Slughorn is very amusing. Another great turn is Tom Felton as Malfoy, who has matured and is given important to deal with. Some are so blink and you miss them, for example, Wormtail inexplicably is present to deliver one sneer, and then disappear. The bland award does not go to Emma Watson, but to Ginny, who delivers her lines in a complete monotone fashion, it is completely strange why Harry is so infatuated with her, and is hard to believe.
There are problems though of course, though some may welcome the return of Quidditch, it seemed out of place with the darkness and the amount of lightness the love potion provided. Some parts also seemed unnecessary, Aragog’s funeral? And downright bizarre, the burning of the burrow? This is the most emotional story in the series, and unfortunately it does not deliver the right level of emotion required, I doubt tears will be spilled unlike when reading the shocking turns in the book, the descriptions and excitement give more life to the events. The revealing of the half blood prince seems almost like an afterthought, despite being the title of the damn film.
However, despite this niggling, it is good, solid and entertaining. The atmosphere is great and at times, genuinely creepy and shocking.