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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Director: David Yates

Time Out rating

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139 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Click here to read our exclusive interview with Daniel Radcliffe

Harry shaves! Harry snogs! But stay your wand, there are other forces of darkness besides late adolescence which are afflicting the poor orphaned wizard of Hogwarts and his hormone-raging contemporaries. For one, Voldemort’s allies, the aerial, ink-trailing Death Eaters, are ravaging London. Ping! Pling! There go the stanchions of the Millennium Bridge! And Harry has hardly been re-admitted to school, following the departure of Mrs Umbridge, last term’s knit-robed Robespierre, when Dumbledore teleports him to Tudor-relic Budleigh Babberton to meet and recruit one-time Potions Master Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent, disguised as a sofa).

False-memory syndrome is at the heart of this next stage of the fight against evil forces: Dumbledore’s phials of stored reminiscences have been polluted, and it is sly Slughorn’s recall of his past tutoring of a Horcrux-fascinated student which may hold a necessary and life-saving corrective.

Longer than the last, the sixth episode of the adventures of the increasingly burdened magic warrior of Privet Drive is a more human affair than its predecessors. It’s as full of the romantic dalliances of the maturing students as it is of warring set-pieces, creature shocks and detours down dark Dickensian alleys. We can already sense the two-part seventh and final saga on the horizon, and the whole less-frenzied affair is tonally and emotionally suggestive of a post-battle re-grouping before a final cinematic assault.

To this end, scriptwriter Steve Kloves, back after a one-film sabbatical, has ably summed up the JK Rowling doorstopper by omitting a major battle and axeing at least one character. Also, the fine, less showy work by new DoP Bruno Delbonnel and Nicholas Hopper’s non-strident second Potter score are in tune with director Yates’s laudable refusal to underline too forcefully moments of triumph and disaster. Togther, they allow space for as much human detail, intimacy, humour and, indeed, pathos as a family magical/fantasy action adventure will allow.

Thus – thrillseekers beware – the film’s memorable scenes are, interestingly, not necessarily the most momentous: the sad, assembled Weasleys regarding their crooked Norfolk tower; a lionine, wind-tossed Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) framed in the Hogwarts tower with all the grandeur of Powell and Pressburger’s ‘Black Narcissus’; poor Emma Watson’s Hermione crying in solitary heartbreak; blonde bombshell Draco Malfoy pitied in a picture of isolated evil. Rupert Grint’s Ron is still the leavening star – striking funny, victorious poses in the series’s last game of Quidditch – but Daniel Radcliffe’s less self-conscious and more self-deprecating Harry runs him a close second.

Click here to read our exclusive interview with Daniel Radcliffe

Author: Wally Hammond 2009-07-09 12:26:57

Time Out London Issue 2030, 16-23 July, 2009

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User reviews of this film

Nicole said...

Posted on Jul 24 2009 16:15 I LOVE!!!!! Harry Potter. I am going to see it again!!!

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nicola said...

Posted on Jul 23 2009 23:27 RUBBISH ......! Don't waste your money.... The worst film I have seen in ages.... really don't bother to go and see it ,,,,,,,,

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ian said...

Posted on Jul 23 2009 20:04 Just got back from taking my two kids to the latest HP installment. I will not waste my money taking them to the next. We left feeling cheated of funds that could have been spent on a film that has a begining, middle and ending. Not what appeared to be, from the first to the last, a disjointed and brief summary of a few chapters of a book made into a film and riding on the good name of the HP series. The author if not laughing at her royalties received must surely be saddened at this poor effort.

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JJ said...

Posted on Jul 23 2009 19:27 David Yates has officially ruined this movie. I watched the film with many friends and they all thought it was dreadful. How can a big hollywood director release something this bad. I don't seem to get why David Yates could'nt have just done the film like the book. The book was amazing and due to the task that was handed to David Yates, i would have thought he would have pulled out all the stops to make this film incredible. Instead he made it shit.
David it's really simple, just do the film like the book, surely it's not that difficult seen as it's already written for you. I bet he probably hasn't even read the book. Because if he had, he would realise that all he's set the seventh one up for is failure. In what universe would he think or the people writing the screenplay feel that they could do a better job than the author. It just shows idiotic arrogance and also indicates how low Yate's IQ score must be.
Looking back on the film, i can make the fair statement that not one scene had been done better than it had in the book. The acting from the cast appeared almost wooden and arkward like it was a GCSE performance in front of the rest of your class.
Aside from the amount of content that has been left out, meaning that a miracle must happen to recover in the seventh installement, my opinion is that the best scene in that whole film was when the death eaters attacked the burrow, and that wasn't even in the book. What sort of statement is that.
If Yates wants to be a writter then he's in the wrong proffession, but before he writes, he's got to learn how to read. And he should probably learn before the seventh film is released and READ THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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ar said...

Posted on Jul 23 2009 19:15 i loved it it was good i loved the places were they filmed it was funny and i thought it was intresting

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kim said...

Posted on Jul 23 2009 14:12 Truly another triumphant Harry Potter film.... Have loved them all and was not dissappointed. Reccommend to all!!!

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morgan said...

Posted on Jul 22 2009 18:17 AMAZING cant beleive all the people who are saying it is rubbish and confusing well they must not have a brain it was truly awesome deffinatly 5 star rating ;]

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tina said...

Posted on Jul 22 2009 15:53 this movie is fab but i dont like it!!

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Olivia said...

Posted on Jul 22 2009 04:23 i'm not a hardcore potter fan but i am a great fan and love all the books and movies. everyone is entitled to an opinion and my personal opinion is that this film was very good. yes, there should have been more memories put in because im not sure how they are gonna work there way around that in the next film. but do u guys realise how hard it must be to put all tht detail into a 2.5 hour film! and they have to make it suitable for everyone to see, so it has to be softer and more lovey than darker....i mean its not fair saying tht under 12's can watch the rest of the films but suddenly they cant see this 1 coz its too dark...come on! in my opinion an excellent effort, very funny and now my 2nd favourite of the films :)

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holly said...

Posted on Jul 21 2009 14:57 FANTASTIC FILM, cant express how gd it was, and seriousli ppl hu r slaggin it off obviousli were not watchin this film properly...cz its immense i have to be honest. everyone should go and see this film because it is by far the best one that has been made so far!!!! cant wait for the next one to come out next yr, and the actors are amazing. GO AND WATCH THIS FILM xxxx

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xXLottieXx said...

Posted on Jul 21 2009 11:12 I am a fan of the books and normally enjoy the films, so I'm not just an anti-HP cynic who wants to upset fans; this film just really isn't worth watching. They've taken the idea of making this film the calm before the storm of the last book's events way too far: nothing happens in this film. There is no obvious beginning, middle and end as the plot is just a few important events from the book loosely strung together with constant references to the fact that Harry and his friends are no longer little children. (Dumbledore's line "You need a shave Harry" feels so contrived I actually laughed out loud. My sister has not yet read the book and told me she hadn't a clue what was going on for the most part of the film. They don't explain anything about the memories or Horcruxes, and so it is hard enough to follow even when you know the motive behind these actions from the book. From watching the film, you have no reason to expect the title to refer to the Half Blood Prince, because he is barely mentioned in the film, and it is not explained at the end what it meant to be the Half Blood Prince or why it mattered, it had no effect on the story or Harry at all. Aside from one piddly duel and a few fiery spells, this film is (rather ironically) devoid of any magic, thrill, action or suspense. It didn't make me care about the characters at all, showing them merely as silly teens only interested in getting off with each other (if I hear the word 'snog' ever again it will be too soon: who actually says that?) The battle between the death eaters and members of the Order is cut out completely, changing Bill's fate entirely, and instead a random scene not in the book is put into the film, but its not necessary at all: it makes no difference to the rest of the film affecting nothing and no one afterwards, but simply existing because someone involved in making the film seemed to relieve their boredom by deciding to set something on fire. Pointless. The young women in this film are shown in a horrible light, Ginny is only ever seen doing things for Harry; feeding him and tying his shoelace, like she has nothing better to do than dote on him, Lavender is shown as a freaky bunny boiler and Hermoine does nothing but drift around in the background of this film, crying and complaining of a broken heart. They just seem pointless 2D characters with no depth or intelligence. The only saving grace in the under-achieving cast is that Ron is funny as per usual. Literally no one else stands out. I didn't even feel upset at the end even though the book usually reduces me to tears, as there was no build up, no sense of urgency or danger, suddenly, the worst had happened and I found myself trying hard to care, but finding I couldn't as the whole film had stayed on the same level throughout, without building any suspense, and suddenly was over, without tying up any loose ends or giving us time to digest the sudden dramatic events. Badly written, badly directed and some of the worst acting I've ever seen (someone teach Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe how to cry please). Hardcore fans may delude themselves pretending this is as good as the other films, but I tell you what I have been telling everyone who cares to ask: I am actually shocked by how awful it was, don't waste your money. I wasted two and a half hours of my life to watch five minutes worth of real plot, and I will never feel the need to watch this again.

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psilas said...

Posted on Jul 20 2009 18:00 VERY boring indeed.
The action was few and far between and the rest of the film was basically sitting around eating scones and cakes,drinking and talking about nothing.
It went on FAR too long for a film with virtually no plot.
Put this francjhise to rest before it becomes even more stale.
2 out of 5.

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bob said...

Posted on Jul 20 2009 10:31 ausum

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Nicola F-D said...

Posted on Jul 19 2009 19:22 Very disappointed with this film .It is a long time since I read the book but I do remember it being focused on who the half blood prince was . I was so eager to know reading the book but the suspension in the film was missing. And then the final scene was like a joke in a comedy sketch. Wasted my money and my two children agree wait until it comes on tv you're missing nothing sorry

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Nicola F-D said...

Posted on Jul 19 2009 19:19 Very disappointed with this film .It is a long time since I read the book but I do remember it being focused on who the half blood prince was . I was so eager to know reading the book but the suspension in the film was missing. And the finally was like a joke in a comedy sketch. Wasted my money and my two children agree wait until it comes on tv your missing nothing sorry

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