Jasonic's Favorites: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Hello, and good evening, Internet!
This Harry Potter had my favorite trailer back in the day and, while fans have their gripes, I appreciate all the movies in some way, including this one!
Released in 2009, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues the Harry Potter film franchise one step closer to the finale that the book fans had already experienced two years prior. A fun fact is that it was one of the most expensive films ever made and THE most expensive Harry Potter film for that matter; with the franchise already maintaining its success, it's no surprise that this film was an even bigger financial and critical success. Many were pleased with the franchise for continually getting darker over time and this film keeps on going with that direction as far as director, David Yates', directing goes. While generally positive, general ratings on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore aren't as high as some previous entries though that's not to say the film was bad by any means. I mentioned already that that may be in part due to some passionate fans of the books having some disdain for the film's focus and a lot of source material from the book that was cut to service the run time. I, on the other hand, didn't mind this film for what it ended up being; I remember seeing its first trailers around the time of release and thinking that the Harry Potter franchise must have gotten a lot more epic since I last saw any previews -- and I hadn't seen the franchise for myself yet, mind you. Regardless, with the trailer's epic narration, score, action, and lines, I remember hoping badly that this movie would exceed my expectations with its intensity. When I first saw the movie, however, I was vaguely disappointed it didn't get that huge, but I was also a young teenager expecting action spectacle over plot and character development. Over time though I recognize that the value of Harry Potter's films and the series as a whole is more on the mystery intrigue, colorful characters, and fantastical magic than it is on creating big action scenes at every turn. And with that, I'd say that this movie still lives up to the standards of the film franchise preceding and following. Even so, I will say what I always wonder about it deserving any criticisms if any at all. So let's pack up our Hogwarts supplies, join our professor's quest, and Apparate our way into Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!
***MEGA SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ/SEEN THE SERIES YET AND WANT TO*** (you've been warned)
The story opens up a few months after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; in it, Lord Voldemort tightens his grip on the wizarding and Muggle worlds, the film opening with his Death Eaters kidnapping wandmaker Ollivander and destroying the Millenium Bridge in London. As dark times approach, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is whisked toward his sixth year at Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) introducing him to former Hogwarts Potions professor, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Dumbledore instructs Harry to get to know Slughorn as his secrets are crucial to this year's tasks at hand. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is chosen and initiated by Voldemort as a Death Eater to carry out a secret mission at Hogwarts, receiving protection from Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) who makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy (Helen McCrory) and Bellatrix LeStrange (Helena Bonham Carter). As Harry and his friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) prepare for the year ahead, they catch Draco and his mother gathering around an unknown object at Borgin and Burkes, seemingly initiating Draco, causing Harry to have his suspicions about Malfoy. Their longstanding rivalry heats up when Malfoy catches him eavesdropping on the train to Hogwarts and knocking him out; Harry is fortunately retrieved by his good friend, Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), and the two make it to Hogwarts in time for Dumbledore's speech. As Harry and friends go about their year at Hogwarts, Harry is put into Slughorn's Potions class where he ends up with a very old and fragile book with the text "This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince" inside. The Half-Blood Prince's various scribbles and writings inside the book cause Harry to excel in Slughorn's class, earning him his approval and a vial of Felix Felicis' liquid luck for when he needs it. Things continue mostly as normal with Quidditch tryouts and Ron making the team as well as catching the eyes of Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) though things also go south when, unexpectedly, student Katie Bell (Georgina Leonidas) is cursed by a magic necklace, Harry offering baseless accusations against Malfoy. With all the teenage angst, relationship drama, and dangerous happenings around Hogwarts, Dumbledore buckles Harry down to learn the history of how Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort, telling him that Slughorn's memories hold the key to Voldemort's downfall. With Harry's world in knots, things could potentially cave unless he acts on exactly what Dumbledore tells him to do.
Like most of the other movies, the movie is mostly the same as the book plotwise though, having read the books since a few years ago, I can definitely understand why passionate book fans are mad a lot was cut. The book, believe it or not, opens with Cornelius Fudge stepping down as Minister of Magic, which sets up his replacement, Rufus Scrimgeour, who is introduced to the movies in the next one. Understandably, that plot doesn't have much to do with this story by comparison and, for that matter, the film opens with an engaging action scene that caught my attention when they showed it off in the trailers. Snape is also only mentioned to FINALLY be the professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts at the beginning, but for the first time in the film franchise, we are never shown any scenes of that classroom. Granted, the overarching Snape plot is more important than him being that teacher and I haven't seen people complain about that much. Where most fans ARE upset is the removal of a lot of the Pensieve memories that exposite more of Voldemort's origin and lore; the final film only gives us the two most concise plot elements for the movie, that being Dumbledore's first meeting with a young Tom Riddle and Slughorn's altered memory of Tom asking about Horcruxes before we get the full version of that later. It helps the film be concise, but people who only see the movies miss out on the Gaunt family with Voldemort's mother, Merope, and it's also where the Horcrux ring was found and made by Voldemort himself. In addition to the Slughorn memory, I remember there also being at least one other memory showing how he created one specific Horcrux and, while I forget which one it was, I will say that it was crucial to showing HOW Voldemort split his soul into seven parts. While it's understandable why fans would be mad, it doesn't entirely bother me what they cut down or even added to this one. In fact, one of the more interesting non-book scenes was the fight with Bellatrix and the Death Eaters at the Weasley's Burrow before it's destroyed. This was most likely done to add more action and give Bellatrix more presence because, otherwise, the book depicted Harry talking to Scrimgeour for the first time at the Weasley Christmas party about the current plot. Additionally, Dumbledore's funeral is sadly cut from the ending as, in the book, it was a beautiful scene with speeches and a white marble tomb forming around Dumbledore's corpse. Sad as it was to lose that scene among others, the film left an impact on me even when everyone in school had already spoiled for me that Dumbledore died -- though thankfully no one told me it was Snape who killed him.
As with all the other Harry Potter films, all the actors do an amazing job with what they're given. Daniel Radcliffe IS Harry Potter at this point; always proactive, always curious, always keen to suspect danger. His chemistry with Ginny (Bonny Wright) is very strange and awkward is you compare them to their book counterparts, but otherwise, Radcliffe had already defined the character up to this point and this film is no exception. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are as you would expect as Ron and Hermione respectively; Grint continues to be awkward with a little more independence while Watson is her usual studious self with a little more of a stern, even anxious edge in the midst of the relationship drama. Newcomer Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn is a delight to say the least; he is less of a cliche eccentric professor and more of a quirky, sincere type who takes pride in his students' abilities. The way he even talks to Harry about his mother in some scenes doesn't come off as repetitive given how much they always talk about him (Harry) having his mother's eyes as, really, that's the heart of what makes their relationship work. Tom Felton finally gets to be much more in the limelight with Draco's more active antagonistic role this time around; he has a stern, composed demeanor around his fellow students, but in his quieter, more private moments, the convincing ache in his face as he cries in the bathroom before his duel with Harry and as he hesitates to kill Dumbledore make me feel more sorry for what he has to go through here. Felton had really grown up and into the role at this point that he comes off as way less of a snobbish, entitled menace and more of a layered, conflicted man on a mission. Helena Bonham Carter is also given some good presence as Bellatrix LeStrange; she is much more venomously quiet and smothery in her initial scene with Snape and Narcissa and she even got t he comes off as way less of a snobbish, entitled menace and more of a layered, conflicted man on a mission. Helena Bonham Carter is also given some good presence as Bellatrix LeStrange; she is muan additional action scene with her usual cackling witch persona. The very sing-songy taunt she has of, "I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!" never ceases to make my blood boil as much as it probably does Harry's.
So many more new and returning actors all do a fine job here, but the real standouts are, no doubt, Alan Rickman and Michael Gambon (both RIP). Rickman still proves himself as one of the greatest actors ever in his sharply cold demeanor he put on as Snape. Scenes like his initial meeting with Bellatrix and Narcissa and his scolding of Draco portray him as a very convincing villain as, at this point, we still don't know whose side he's really on. Other scenes like Slughorn's Christmas party where Cormac McLaggin (Freddie Stroma) throws up on him as Harry tries to slip out of the conversation are played a little bit for laughs as he so sternly halts Harry without looking his direction. Rickman really was a legend and so was Gambon. With this being Gambon's last time as Dumbledore while the character was still living, he went all in to give him a convincing farewell; even the old trailers' dialogue convinced me that this might be Dumbledore's last hurrah with his emotionally somber tone throughout. And the pain and agony he's in while drinking the potion later shows in his convulsing and the way he then shouts, "Kill me. Kill me!" is enough to tug at the heartstrings. His final words, "Severus. Please," are also very layered 'cause while you may be convinced he's pleading for Snape to spare him, those who really know what's going on makes it all the more heartbreaking. These films will always be a hallmark of the actors' career and performances like Gambon's proved it well.
Once more, this film is full of well-done and magical special effects; the Death Eaters blowing into Ollivander's at the beginning looks like it could have been a rare practical effect and when they tear down the Millenium Bridge, it almost looks real -- even close to home for some. Dumbledore's Apparate of him and Harry is also the very first instance of such in the film franchise. While it was an important magical lesson in the book -- described as the feeling of a person being shoved through a pinhole -- it is only briefly shown here to set up Harry and the crew doing it frequently in the two Deathly Hallows films. The visual in the film specifically looks like both Apparaters' matter is slipping, phasing, maybe even combining in and out of each other as one would expect with such a magical form of warping from one place to another. The first real disturbing scene of Katie Bell being hexed by mistake is also done well; whether any part of was done on strings or all CGI, I am uncertain, but they made a convincing ragdoll out of her actress for that part. By comparison to the books, the visual of her being thrown around is probably more disturbing because those who read it and didn't know what was going on were probably just confused or curious thinking, "What sort of magic IS this?" Honestly, my favorite part of book adaptations is how they've allowed me to digest the plot and what's happening that much better and these Harry Potter films prior to the soon-to-be HBO show is probably the prime example of how well it can make the ideas land. For that matter, while there aren't numerous spiders/acromantulas in this film like there were in Chamber of Secrets, Aragog gets one final appearance with his corpse appearing alongside Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) mourning him because he (Aragog) just died of sickness/old age. I'm not sure whether his corpse was done with any sort of practical effects like the scary model closeup in Chamber of Secrets, but even when Slughorn extracts venom from his pincers, he sort of looks like he could have actually been there. And the whole scene is quite touching because, despite Aragog turning villainous on Harry and Ron in Chamber, you feel Hagrid's sorrow and sentiment because of his friendly half-giant demeanor of caring so much for his magical creature pets. Later on, the inferi as they're officially called are very grotesque creepy monsters on screen the moment they jump out of the water to attack Harry and Dumbledore. None of them get closeup shots, but the creep factor is there in there designs and the fact that they jumpscare you the moment Harry reaches to scoop up water. SFX have come such a long way that the difference between this film and the first one is night and day!
Of course, my Harry Potter reviews wouldn't be complete without lastly my musical analysis! Composed by Nicholas Hooper this time around, these tracks are some of my all-time favorites in the franchise and in film; starting with "Opening", the first minute has a much slower piano version of the Harry Potter theme ("Hedwig's Theme" for the hardcores) followed by a somber choir symbolizing Harry's despair in the moments following Sirius Black's death. The strings then rise as the title is shown, the Death Eaters are introduced, and then percussion symbolizes their attack on the Wizarding and Muggle Worlds. Quite the effective opening if I can picture it alongside simply hearing the soundtrack. The second song on the soundtrack, "In Noctem", funny enough, is only heard during the credits and in a deleted scene; it is a somber choir song sung half in Latin half in English that really sets the mood for both the soundtrack to come and Dumbledore's death should the deleted scene be taken into account. I discovered this scene by accident when Freeform (formerly ABC) showed a version of the movie that restored the scene of the Hogwarts choir singing this song and depicted the cast in doubt about the looming storm as well as Snape in his regret -- as evidenced by him appearing during the lyric "Lived without regret". It was a scene I definitely wished was kept in the final version, but the fact that the song made it to the credits and soundtrack is still something. The rest of the score has some good ones like the jazzy "Wizarding Wheezes" and I swear there was a reprise of "Dumbledore's Army" somewhere in the movie, but not on the OST. Among my favorites, however, would have to be the track "Harry & Hermione"; it is a touching track that plays during the scene of Harry comforting Hermione as she's torn about the fact that she loves Ron and Ron has chosen Lavender Brown over her. The soft strings give a cold, but intimate feel, reminiscent of a friend comforting another friend in troubled times. It's one of those vibes I long for in a platonic or intimate friendship and it makes me feel some sympathy for what Harry and Hermione are going through seeing their respective lovers with other people -- for Harry, that's Ginny with Dean Thomas (Alfred Enoch). My personal favorite, however, is "Dumbledore's Farewell"; paired with the previous track, "The Killing of Dumbledore", it makes for a fantastic somber climactic piece. Ever since I first listened to it for the first time as a teenager, I have always felt instinctively sad upon putting it on because I think not just of the situation of Harry losing his beloved mentor, but Hogwarts losing perhaps its best headmaster and the cast collectively mourning him as they drive off the Dark Mark overhead. The swelling strings and prolonged sadness were so profound after the character of Dumbledore died and I was just as sad when Michael Gambon himself died in 2023. With that, I paid any real Harry Potter fan's sort of tribute to the man by listening to this track that very day it happened; it was an emotional farewell to an actor who played a character so well, I'll never forget either.
All that said, is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a bad film? By all accounts, no! Despite the removal of several Pensieve scenes and plot points that were crucial to the book, the actors are still some of the best in any book to movie adaptation, the animation and special effects are so good, and the music continues to give us the proper fantastical and emotional variety that Harry Potter is known for. This may not be the most top tier of the Harry Potter films as a whole, but it's still just as solid as the others and gives fans a good excuse to have a good cry by the end regardless of if they know Dumbledore's death is coming. The rest of the movies continue to get all the more emotional from here on out because it is the finale of the beloved series -- and one of the most emotional finales for that matter. Having grown more with Harry Potter since I was a teenager, it was honestly a treat growing up with it in a different way: not since I was a kid, but rather since I became an adolescent who understood fantasy better. With the amount of times I have revisited this series, it never fails to make me emotional and this movie is no exception. With that, I give this movie a B+ and recommend it to all Harry Potter fans!
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
This Harry Potter had my favorite trailer back in the day and, while fans have their gripes, I appreciate all the movies in some way, including this one!
Released in 2009, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues the Harry Potter film franchise one step closer to the finale that the book fans had already experienced two years prior. A fun fact is that it was one of the most expensive films ever made and THE most expensive Harry Potter film for that matter; with the franchise already maintaining its success, it's no surprise that this film was an even bigger financial and critical success. Many were pleased with the franchise for continually getting darker over time and this film keeps on going with that direction as far as director, David Yates', directing goes. While generally positive, general ratings on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore aren't as high as some previous entries though that's not to say the film was bad by any means. I mentioned already that that may be in part due to some passionate fans of the books having some disdain for the film's focus and a lot of source material from the book that was cut to service the run time. I, on the other hand, didn't mind this film for what it ended up being; I remember seeing its first trailers around the time of release and thinking that the Harry Potter franchise must have gotten a lot more epic since I last saw any previews -- and I hadn't seen the franchise for myself yet, mind you. Regardless, with the trailer's epic narration, score, action, and lines, I remember hoping badly that this movie would exceed my expectations with its intensity. When I first saw the movie, however, I was vaguely disappointed it didn't get that huge, but I was also a young teenager expecting action spectacle over plot and character development. Over time though I recognize that the value of Harry Potter's films and the series as a whole is more on the mystery intrigue, colorful characters, and fantastical magic than it is on creating big action scenes at every turn. And with that, I'd say that this movie still lives up to the standards of the film franchise preceding and following. Even so, I will say what I always wonder about it deserving any criticisms if any at all. So let's pack up our Hogwarts supplies, join our professor's quest, and Apparate our way into Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!
***MEGA SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ/SEEN THE SERIES YET AND WANT TO*** (you've been warned)
The story opens up a few months after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; in it, Lord Voldemort tightens his grip on the wizarding and Muggle worlds, the film opening with his Death Eaters kidnapping wandmaker Ollivander and destroying the Millenium Bridge in London. As dark times approach, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is whisked toward his sixth year at Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) introducing him to former Hogwarts Potions professor, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Dumbledore instructs Harry to get to know Slughorn as his secrets are crucial to this year's tasks at hand. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is chosen and initiated by Voldemort as a Death Eater to carry out a secret mission at Hogwarts, receiving protection from Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) who makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy (Helen McCrory) and Bellatrix LeStrange (Helena Bonham Carter). As Harry and his friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) prepare for the year ahead, they catch Draco and his mother gathering around an unknown object at Borgin and Burkes, seemingly initiating Draco, causing Harry to have his suspicions about Malfoy. Their longstanding rivalry heats up when Malfoy catches him eavesdropping on the train to Hogwarts and knocking him out; Harry is fortunately retrieved by his good friend, Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), and the two make it to Hogwarts in time for Dumbledore's speech. As Harry and friends go about their year at Hogwarts, Harry is put into Slughorn's Potions class where he ends up with a very old and fragile book with the text "This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince" inside. The Half-Blood Prince's various scribbles and writings inside the book cause Harry to excel in Slughorn's class, earning him his approval and a vial of Felix Felicis' liquid luck for when he needs it. Things continue mostly as normal with Quidditch tryouts and Ron making the team as well as catching the eyes of Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) though things also go south when, unexpectedly, student Katie Bell (Georgina Leonidas) is cursed by a magic necklace, Harry offering baseless accusations against Malfoy. With all the teenage angst, relationship drama, and dangerous happenings around Hogwarts, Dumbledore buckles Harry down to learn the history of how Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort, telling him that Slughorn's memories hold the key to Voldemort's downfall. With Harry's world in knots, things could potentially cave unless he acts on exactly what Dumbledore tells him to do.
Like most of the other movies, the movie is mostly the same as the book plotwise though, having read the books since a few years ago, I can definitely understand why passionate book fans are mad a lot was cut. The book, believe it or not, opens with Cornelius Fudge stepping down as Minister of Magic, which sets up his replacement, Rufus Scrimgeour, who is introduced to the movies in the next one. Understandably, that plot doesn't have much to do with this story by comparison and, for that matter, the film opens with an engaging action scene that caught my attention when they showed it off in the trailers. Snape is also only mentioned to FINALLY be the professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts at the beginning, but for the first time in the film franchise, we are never shown any scenes of that classroom. Granted, the overarching Snape plot is more important than him being that teacher and I haven't seen people complain about that much. Where most fans ARE upset is the removal of a lot of the Pensieve memories that exposite more of Voldemort's origin and lore; the final film only gives us the two most concise plot elements for the movie, that being Dumbledore's first meeting with a young Tom Riddle and Slughorn's altered memory of Tom asking about Horcruxes before we get the full version of that later. It helps the film be concise, but people who only see the movies miss out on the Gaunt family with Voldemort's mother, Merope, and it's also where the Horcrux ring was found and made by Voldemort himself. In addition to the Slughorn memory, I remember there also being at least one other memory showing how he created one specific Horcrux and, while I forget which one it was, I will say that it was crucial to showing HOW Voldemort split his soul into seven parts. While it's understandable why fans would be mad, it doesn't entirely bother me what they cut down or even added to this one. In fact, one of the more interesting non-book scenes was the fight with Bellatrix and the Death Eaters at the Weasley's Burrow before it's destroyed. This was most likely done to add more action and give Bellatrix more presence because, otherwise, the book depicted Harry talking to Scrimgeour for the first time at the Weasley Christmas party about the current plot. Additionally, Dumbledore's funeral is sadly cut from the ending as, in the book, it was a beautiful scene with speeches and a white marble tomb forming around Dumbledore's corpse. Sad as it was to lose that scene among others, the film left an impact on me even when everyone in school had already spoiled for me that Dumbledore died -- though thankfully no one told me it was Snape who killed him.
As with all the other Harry Potter films, all the actors do an amazing job with what they're given. Daniel Radcliffe IS Harry Potter at this point; always proactive, always curious, always keen to suspect danger. His chemistry with Ginny (Bonny Wright) is very strange and awkward is you compare them to their book counterparts, but otherwise, Radcliffe had already defined the character up to this point and this film is no exception. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are as you would expect as Ron and Hermione respectively; Grint continues to be awkward with a little more independence while Watson is her usual studious self with a little more of a stern, even anxious edge in the midst of the relationship drama. Newcomer Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn is a delight to say the least; he is less of a cliche eccentric professor and more of a quirky, sincere type who takes pride in his students' abilities. The way he even talks to Harry about his mother in some scenes doesn't come off as repetitive given how much they always talk about him (Harry) having his mother's eyes as, really, that's the heart of what makes their relationship work. Tom Felton finally gets to be much more in the limelight with Draco's more active antagonistic role this time around; he has a stern, composed demeanor around his fellow students, but in his quieter, more private moments, the convincing ache in his face as he cries in the bathroom before his duel with Harry and as he hesitates to kill Dumbledore make me feel more sorry for what he has to go through here. Felton had really grown up and into the role at this point that he comes off as way less of a snobbish, entitled menace and more of a layered, conflicted man on a mission. Helena Bonham Carter is also given some good presence as Bellatrix LeStrange; she is much more venomously quiet and smothery in her initial scene with Snape and Narcissa and she even got t he comes off as way less of a snobbish, entitled menace and more of a layered, conflicted man on a mission. Helena Bonham Carter is also given some good presence as Bellatrix LeStrange; she is muan additional action scene with her usual cackling witch persona. The very sing-songy taunt she has of, "I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!" never ceases to make my blood boil as much as it probably does Harry's.
So many more new and returning actors all do a fine job here, but the real standouts are, no doubt, Alan Rickman and Michael Gambon (both RIP). Rickman still proves himself as one of the greatest actors ever in his sharply cold demeanor he put on as Snape. Scenes like his initial meeting with Bellatrix and Narcissa and his scolding of Draco portray him as a very convincing villain as, at this point, we still don't know whose side he's really on. Other scenes like Slughorn's Christmas party where Cormac McLaggin (Freddie Stroma) throws up on him as Harry tries to slip out of the conversation are played a little bit for laughs as he so sternly halts Harry without looking his direction. Rickman really was a legend and so was Gambon. With this being Gambon's last time as Dumbledore while the character was still living, he went all in to give him a convincing farewell; even the old trailers' dialogue convinced me that this might be Dumbledore's last hurrah with his emotionally somber tone throughout. And the pain and agony he's in while drinking the potion later shows in his convulsing and the way he then shouts, "Kill me. Kill me!" is enough to tug at the heartstrings. His final words, "Severus. Please," are also very layered 'cause while you may be convinced he's pleading for Snape to spare him, those who really know what's going on makes it all the more heartbreaking. These films will always be a hallmark of the actors' career and performances like Gambon's proved it well.
Once more, this film is full of well-done and magical special effects; the Death Eaters blowing into Ollivander's at the beginning looks like it could have been a rare practical effect and when they tear down the Millenium Bridge, it almost looks real -- even close to home for some. Dumbledore's Apparate of him and Harry is also the very first instance of such in the film franchise. While it was an important magical lesson in the book -- described as the feeling of a person being shoved through a pinhole -- it is only briefly shown here to set up Harry and the crew doing it frequently in the two Deathly Hallows films. The visual in the film specifically looks like both Apparaters' matter is slipping, phasing, maybe even combining in and out of each other as one would expect with such a magical form of warping from one place to another. The first real disturbing scene of Katie Bell being hexed by mistake is also done well; whether any part of was done on strings or all CGI, I am uncertain, but they made a convincing ragdoll out of her actress for that part. By comparison to the books, the visual of her being thrown around is probably more disturbing because those who read it and didn't know what was going on were probably just confused or curious thinking, "What sort of magic IS this?" Honestly, my favorite part of book adaptations is how they've allowed me to digest the plot and what's happening that much better and these Harry Potter films prior to the soon-to-be HBO show is probably the prime example of how well it can make the ideas land. For that matter, while there aren't numerous spiders/acromantulas in this film like there were in Chamber of Secrets, Aragog gets one final appearance with his corpse appearing alongside Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) mourning him because he (Aragog) just died of sickness/old age. I'm not sure whether his corpse was done with any sort of practical effects like the scary model closeup in Chamber of Secrets, but even when Slughorn extracts venom from his pincers, he sort of looks like he could have actually been there. And the whole scene is quite touching because, despite Aragog turning villainous on Harry and Ron in Chamber, you feel Hagrid's sorrow and sentiment because of his friendly half-giant demeanor of caring so much for his magical creature pets. Later on, the inferi as they're officially called are very grotesque creepy monsters on screen the moment they jump out of the water to attack Harry and Dumbledore. None of them get closeup shots, but the creep factor is there in there designs and the fact that they jumpscare you the moment Harry reaches to scoop up water. SFX have come such a long way that the difference between this film and the first one is night and day!
Of course, my Harry Potter reviews wouldn't be complete without lastly my musical analysis! Composed by Nicholas Hooper this time around, these tracks are some of my all-time favorites in the franchise and in film; starting with "Opening", the first minute has a much slower piano version of the Harry Potter theme ("Hedwig's Theme" for the hardcores) followed by a somber choir symbolizing Harry's despair in the moments following Sirius Black's death. The strings then rise as the title is shown, the Death Eaters are introduced, and then percussion symbolizes their attack on the Wizarding and Muggle Worlds. Quite the effective opening if I can picture it alongside simply hearing the soundtrack. The second song on the soundtrack, "In Noctem", funny enough, is only heard during the credits and in a deleted scene; it is a somber choir song sung half in Latin half in English that really sets the mood for both the soundtrack to come and Dumbledore's death should the deleted scene be taken into account. I discovered this scene by accident when Freeform (formerly ABC) showed a version of the movie that restored the scene of the Hogwarts choir singing this song and depicted the cast in doubt about the looming storm as well as Snape in his regret -- as evidenced by him appearing during the lyric "Lived without regret". It was a scene I definitely wished was kept in the final version, but the fact that the song made it to the credits and soundtrack is still something. The rest of the score has some good ones like the jazzy "Wizarding Wheezes" and I swear there was a reprise of "Dumbledore's Army" somewhere in the movie, but not on the OST. Among my favorites, however, would have to be the track "Harry & Hermione"; it is a touching track that plays during the scene of Harry comforting Hermione as she's torn about the fact that she loves Ron and Ron has chosen Lavender Brown over her. The soft strings give a cold, but intimate feel, reminiscent of a friend comforting another friend in troubled times. It's one of those vibes I long for in a platonic or intimate friendship and it makes me feel some sympathy for what Harry and Hermione are going through seeing their respective lovers with other people -- for Harry, that's Ginny with Dean Thomas (Alfred Enoch). My personal favorite, however, is "Dumbledore's Farewell"; paired with the previous track, "The Killing of Dumbledore", it makes for a fantastic somber climactic piece. Ever since I first listened to it for the first time as a teenager, I have always felt instinctively sad upon putting it on because I think not just of the situation of Harry losing his beloved mentor, but Hogwarts losing perhaps its best headmaster and the cast collectively mourning him as they drive off the Dark Mark overhead. The swelling strings and prolonged sadness were so profound after the character of Dumbledore died and I was just as sad when Michael Gambon himself died in 2023. With that, I paid any real Harry Potter fan's sort of tribute to the man by listening to this track that very day it happened; it was an emotional farewell to an actor who played a character so well, I'll never forget either.
All that said, is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a bad film? By all accounts, no! Despite the removal of several Pensieve scenes and plot points that were crucial to the book, the actors are still some of the best in any book to movie adaptation, the animation and special effects are so good, and the music continues to give us the proper fantastical and emotional variety that Harry Potter is known for. This may not be the most top tier of the Harry Potter films as a whole, but it's still just as solid as the others and gives fans a good excuse to have a good cry by the end regardless of if they know Dumbledore's death is coming. The rest of the movies continue to get all the more emotional from here on out because it is the finale of the beloved series -- and one of the most emotional finales for that matter. Having grown more with Harry Potter since I was a teenager, it was honestly a treat growing up with it in a different way: not since I was a kid, but rather since I became an adolescent who understood fantasy better. With the amount of times I have revisited this series, it never fails to make me emotional and this movie is no exception. With that, I give this movie a B+ and recommend it to all Harry Potter fans!
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
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