Since I can already tell that this review is going to become a love letter about the Harry Potter series (both the books and the movies), this is as good a time as any to tell you how it all started. My grandma gave the first book in 4th grade, months before anyone else had even heard the name “Harry Potter”, but I put it on my book shelf because I thought the cover looked silly. One day later, I saw a few of my class members carrying books with that same “silly” cover. I asked them about it, only to be told how absolutely awesome it was and how stupid I was for not reading it. I’m always one to give into peer pressure, so I immediately started reading it, and I could not put it down. By that time, the second and third books had already been published, and I read them both in a few days. As the years went by and the new books trickled out, I read each one as quickly as I could, and loved every page. I can say without hesitation that the Harry Potter books are my favorite literary series, even overLord of the Rings. The moral of the story, cliched as it may sound, is don’t judge a book by its cover and listen to your grandma when she recommends a book.
But what about the movies you say? That’s another story entirely. The first two films, which I’ll admit I haven’t seen in years, were complete disappointments. Chris Columbus was in way over his head with the franchise and just couldn’t capture what made the books so fantastic. I remember watching scenes that I loved from the book and being so confused as to why I wasn’t enjoying them. Enter Alfonso Cuaron. With possibly the best of the books as his source material, Cuaron gave the movie the feel that it needed and gave the franchise a much needed breath of fresh air. His vision was darker and less colorful without sacrificing the fun tone of the books. The fourth film was good, but not great. It captured the massive visuals very well, and gave us Ralph Fiennes as the horrifying Lord Voldemort, but the movie just did not have the same impact that the book did. To the fifth film, where the series finally found the man who could create the perfect adaptation of Harry Potter in David Yates. Taking cues from his predecessors while giving the movie its own unique flair, Yates’ Potter-world is amazing. Order of the Phoenix was one of that year’s best, and with those expectations, Yates led us in to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
I’ve done enough meandering so I’ll just cut to the chase: this movie is great. It’s excellent. It’s fantastic. I really can’t think of enough praising words. This is really everything that a movie should be. Rarely do series get better after the second film, and any series that goes as far as 6 movies usually becomes a parody of itself, but HBP has gone the opposite way, and is the best of the series so far. Everything about this movie is fantastic.
I’m getting so overwhelmed just thinking about it that I don’t even know where to begin. The performances, from the main characters to the supporting characters, are just perfect. One of the advantages to doing a series this long with all the same actors is that they develop a great chemistry with one another, especially with the big three. The banter between the three friends is so perfectly timed and natural feeling and that’s because they’ve been doing it for eight years. At no point does it ever feel like they’re playing friends; they’re real friends. Daniel Radcliffe is completely comfortable in the role and has made Potter his own. Emma Watson continues to be perfect, balancing fun and friendly with obsessive and neurotic. The actor who really stood out, the one who made the biggest jump between movies, is Rupert Grint as Ron. The character gets more screen time and growth in this film and Grint is fantastic. I could go on and on about every performance, but I’ll just say that Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Alan Rickman (Snape), Jim Broadbent (Slughorn), and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix) were all great. Although Gambon has never had to do much as Dumbledore, he has to show quite a range in this film and it’s perfect.
The most suprising thing (it’s a pleasant surprise) was the tone of the movie. Coming off the ending of OotP, and knowing where this film had to end up, coupled with the marketing of the film, I was expecting an extremely dark movie. The movie is quite the opposite. From the get go, it is all about having fun. There were a lot of great comedic moments, and most of these laughs are generated by the characters. It’s not a series of set pieces, but facial expressions, or body language, that are so hilarious. Most of the movie is fun and comedic in tone, but there are dark moments, and they are equally as great as the fun ones. The shift between tones does not feel forced, but rather a natural progression of events. It’s as though even with all of the light-heartedness, there is always that darkness lingering, just below the surface, so when it comes through, it’s not unexpected because it was never too far away.
This movie is really all about character development, and that’s what makes it work so well. That’s the same thing that makes the books work so well, especially for those of us who read them as they were written. I was about the same age when the first book came about, so as I got older, so did the characters, and I felt so much closer to them because of this. The same thing can be said for the movies. We’ve seen these actors since they were little kids and now we’re watching them grow and mature and become real people, and this leads to some truly great character moments. We are given a great look at the bond between Harry and Hermione, and bond that is pivotal for the final films. Like I said, it’s all about the character growth in this film, even to the point that there is no real plot. It’s essentially two and half hours and showing you the lives of these characters. The only real “plot” elements concern learning how Voldemort went from a young boy to the greatest dark wizard of all time, and that’s the definition of character development right there.
I’ve probably glossed over or forgotten someone or something on the character and story side, but you can assume it was great. From a technical side, this movie is just as great. Even non-Potter fans will have to say that the film looks great, and the cinematography is absolutley amazing. Yates takes a cue from his predecessor Cuaron and uses a number of beautiful continuous shots. They are obviously stitched together using CGI, which makes them less impressive than Cuaron Children of Men shots, but they are still brilliantly done. The movie is just filled with little shots and angles that are unconventional and give the film a very original look. Also, the establishing shots of the country side and train route are absolutely breath-taking.
To everyone saying that they don’t see these movies or read the books because they are for kids is wrong. Like I said before, don’t put the book on the shelf just because it has a silly cover (see, there was a point to that story). If you haven’t given the movies a chance, do it. If you walked away after the disappointing first two, come back. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a triumph of filmmaking, a near perfect movie. Bring on The Deathly Hallows.
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