It is hard to believe that it has been eight years since the first Chris Columbus directed film. There have been many changes in the franchise over those many years and millions of dollars. Different directors, cinematographers and score composers, but the films have all remained consistently good. This is a good thing for any franchise, though in my mind the films never really set themselves apart from one another. I am glad to say that the Half Blood Prince has set itself apart from the other films.
This film improved on everything that I felt were negatives in the other films. For one a good majority of the two and a half hour film is dedicated to the relationships of the characters. My favourite parts of the past movies have been just watching the characters interact with one another and here there is more of that then in the last five movies combined. This film feels as much a hang-out movie as it does a fantasy film. With more character development comes more romance and some may find this tiresome, but for me it is doubly as interesting as the past action scenes. That leads me to another great thing about the film, the wand battles. They have never been a strong point in the other films, as just pointing a stick at someone and saying some words is not very fun to watch. Director David Yates must have realised this as there are only three main fight scenes and none of them over stay there welcome. My favourite takes place in a field of tall grass and the way it looks and is filmed is stunning. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Amelie) did a fantastic job capturing the Harry Potter world. It does help that he has such a fantastic cast to film. The main group of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint continue to improve their skills with every film. Most notably was how well they worked together comedically. This is by far the funniest film in the series. The rest of the supporting cast which includes a who’s who of British actors are superb as usual.
Half Blood Prince is much slower than the other films in the series, and that will definitely divide people. Those who love the characters will eat this up while those who expect more action may be bored and frustrated. I am glad that this film was made the way it was. The filmed delivered everything that I wanted. David Yates will be directing the final two films and I cannot wait to see what he has in store.
A Golden Banana
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