Director: David Yates
Just like its predecessors, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is an epic and operatic film, with tons of magic, tons of flying, tons of uncommon creatures, and so, therefore, tons of special effects. But although the director David Yates has worked in two of the latest Harry Potter movies, and some things (essential for a film like "Harry Potter") stayed the same, there are some noticeable moments that did experience some changes.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is a screen adaptation of J. K. Rowlings' cognominal novel and is the sixth film of the series, so as usual in these kinds of films the plot is notably shortened, many of the dialogues are cut out. But, to be honest, the film does not lose anything, because of all the action happening on the screen.
From film to film "Harry Potter" seemed to get gloomier and grimier. The latest installment intends to break this tradition. The film has become a little lighter, funnier and a little bit more romantic, although you won't suffer from a lack of intense and dramatic scenes.
The sixth school year of Harry Potter will be rich for events. Harry discovers the mysterious book marked as the property of "the Half-Blood Prince," and with Dumbledore begins to learn about Lord Voldemorts' dark past, not to mention all the love fever that lingers all around Hogwarts (maybe because of that, the last "Harry Potter" movie involves a lot more kissing, than the other five films combined).
The action scenes are marvelous, massive and fast paced, as usual, so you probably will not be disappointed, even if you are not interested in the plot; nevertheless, the film contains more jokes and comic scenes than usual. It is interesting how Yates manages to combine comedy, magic and action in one movie, while not moving away from the original plot.
The acting was usual for this kind of film, with a couple of truly admirable moments and a couple of absolutely dreadful ones. Impressive was the performance of Alan Rickman (Professor Severus Snape) and Helena Bohnem Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), but it is expected from actors of their level to give a solid performance in every movie they do. The "younglings," unfortunately, were less successful; still, you can not say that they were particularly bad, besides, all the special effects carries off the lack of good acting.
David Yates is known for his ability to work with composers. This film was not an exception. The music by Nicholas Hooper wonderfully goes together with the action on the screen and with the cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel - director of photography in "Amelie"(who, by the way, is very unusual to work in such a film as "Harry Potter").
A couple of months ago it was mentioned that David Yates would be directing the next "Harry Potter" installment, and that in the interests of sticking to the original story, it would be divided into two separate movies. If the next movie will be anything like this one, the fans will not be disappointed, as for the rest of the world 's "Harry Potter" was and remains a nice way to kill time.
Now showing in all three countries
