HP6 - Review by Philip Josse

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the sixth film in the Harry Potter franchise. I know i previously stated my intention to review all these films before the end of the summer, but to tell you the truth i still haven't gone back to university, and so hopefully i will complete them all before freshers week, only two to go. Half Blood Prince recounts the sixth year at Hogwarts School, and is the year in which Harry finally learns more about his past and his destiny from Dumbledore. The title refers to an old potions book which Harry founds, which was once the property of the mysterious Half Blood Prince, a potions genius from who he learns a great deal.

Half Blood Prince adds very few new characters to the series, as the work focuses mainly on Harry's past and future, and there is no 'mystery' to be really solved, however one fantastic addition is that of Jim Broadbent as Slughorn, i love this actor and he really shows both his comedic and dramatic range in this film. The movie is much more introspective, the pensive is a device used in other books and films which allows the characters to enter memories and explore them. Here Dumbledore uses the pensive to show Harry memories about Voldemort from his past, in order for Harry to understand Riddle's motives. Dumbledore shows Harry Voldemort's discovery of horcruxes and his childhood. The film shows us a lot about Voldemort's descent into psychopathy and the birth of his obsession with eternal life.

The second half of the film deals with the trios raging hormones first and foremost, the burgeoning relationship between Ron and Hermione, and Harrys growing affection for Ginnie. This part of the film also deals with horcruxes, and Dumbledores search for them. Harry and Dumbledore journey to a cave, where they find a locket and fight off inferi, upon their return to Hogwarts Dumbledore and Harry face off against a group of death eaters in the battle of their lives.

The film is much darker than it's predecessors, and this film continues the trend of desaturating the film of each subsequent installment of the series, becoming darker and less colorfull, to represent the happiness being sucked out of the world. The sets are beautiful in this film, and the movie is tender and poignant. The cave where Harry and Voldemort find the locket is a fantastic creation, and identically mirrors the illustration from the book cover. The film shows the same world as the first film, but with all the life, light and colour sucked out of it, and the future looks bleak as we gear up for the final battle. Rating: B

Harry Potter: Be brave, Professor. Be brave like my mother... Otherwise, you disgrace her. Otherwise, she died for nothing. Otherwise, the bowl will remain empty... forever.