Monday, August 3, 2009

Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009, Dir. David Yates)

This review is intended as a review of an adaptation, so I discuss plot in order to address the presentation of a familiar story. If you are not familiar with the story, you may not want to read this review.


When Albus Dumbledore died in 2005 it was a cultural event. Children all over the world were stunned and horrified. The Harry Potter series had entered a much darker realm that it had previously, a realm not common to children’s tales: long-form betrayal. But, that was the beauty of the seventh installment of JK Rowling’s acclaimed series: the reader was unsure of the circumstances of Dumbledore’s death and Snape’s allegiances. In essence, the sixth book of the series created unfathomable tension through Dumbledore’s death – a sentence in the novel – that only brought excitement for the final installment.

The adaptation of this novel, alternatively, achieves absolutely no dramatic tension whatsoever. Dumbledore’s death is almost laughable, particularly if you consider the irony that the shot of him falling from the tower directly mirrors that of Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman’s – Snape – role in Die Hard) falling from the Nakatomi Plaza building. But, more importantly, director David Yates disallows any belief of Snape as a villain by including a moment of him giving Harry the ‘shh’ sign before killing Dumbledore.

While this enormous moment certainly disappoints, the rest of the film also falls short. There seems to be simply not enough of anything to really engage the audience and all the plotlines of the film fall flat. First, the Horcruxes receive little to no treatment or buildup and the finale does nothing to indicate the horcruxes will be a major part of the coming two-part conclusion of the series. While many suggest the film remained too romantically centered, I found that they also underdid that piece of the film: the sixth book is full of puberty-related comedic relief and an excess of ‘snogging.’ The film, unfortunately, does not display the vibrantly hilarious butterbeer hookup culture at Hogwarts and, instead, leaves the viewer only with an idea that these characters now think about the other sex. All relationships that should be established by the end of the film are left entirely in limbo: Ron and Hermoine have not begun dating – their single romantic moment arrives when Ron calls her name instead of his girlfriend’s while recovering from a coma – and Harry and Ginny have kissed a single time and it did not lead to any solidification of their desire to be together, a desire that plays a pivotal role in Harry’s inner conflict at the outset of the seventh book.

While Yates previous venture into the HP series enticed viewers with an array of visually stunning magic fights, this film again falls flat in the realm of on-screen action. While the fifth film did not stray from the violence and excitement of the battle at the Ministry of Magic, this film did not include the fight at Hogwarts before and after Dumbledore’s death that could have easily injected some life into the picture. Instead, the only dueling present in this film is Harry and Draco briefly exchanging spells in a bathroom.

Simply put: this film is an absolute waste of time. Despite the rampant tension of the source material, the adaptation falls completely flat. Instead of setting up the series for an exciting conclusion, this installment felt unfinished yet does not leave the viewer craving a conclusion. But, if you do end up spending your $10+ to see this film, it is certainly a pleasure to see the fabulous Where the Wild Things Are trailer on the big screen.

45/100

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