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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

foggyboy12 said...

Posted on Aug 12 2009 09:49 The ending was crap it diddnt leave you with a cliff hanger or anything ... but over all it was OK

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naomi said...

Posted on Aug 11 2009 11:42 I thought that the film was quite good even although several aspects from the book were missed out. i think that the most important thing that they should have had were the other memories so that harry would know what the other horcruxes should be. i also thought that the fire in the weasley's house was pointless nd i never got why harry stood up when ginny entered slughorn's dinner party or why ginny tied his shoelace it all seemed a bit daft to me. however the film was much better than the order of the pheonix which i thought was terrible

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CCC1BBB said...

Posted on Aug 10 2009 17:11 Spoiler warning - Wow. The Half-Blood Prince movie was a disappointment to me, compared to the book. Obviously, not all story lines can be included in movies, but it didn’t seem like the director (even though I know he apparently did one before), or screenplay writer, or somebody, must not have read the books, or seen the previous movies! Why change it to Luna finding Harry on the train, instead of Tonks? No purpose. And why on earth would you do it making the wrakspurt (?) of Luna’s imagination real?? Also, leaving out conversations Harry had with Dumbledore about the possible identity of most of the horcruxes seems a crucial error for the set-up of the next story! Adding things to the story like burning the Burrow is horrendous. It would better-serve the story by including more of the things that actually happened! Also, yes, Hermione, in the book, is frustrated to tears with Ron’s obtuseness, but she’s not the simpering idiot she had to portray in the movie. I waited through movie for at least the climactic ending but they didn’t show the battle!! Unbelievable! Maybe people who haven’t read the book will think it fine, & others may want to see it for the sake of it. I fervently hope a different crowd makes the movies for the last book. Thank you.

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Hannah said...

Posted on Aug 10 2009 16:35 I loved this film. It was the best of all of the Harry Potter films. They left a bit out but it didn't really matter. I thought it was the ebst of the 6 and cannot wait for the Deathly Hallows to come out next year. :)) :))

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JJ said...

Posted on Aug 10 2009 16:14 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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SR said...

Posted on Aug 10 2009 13:56 I would give it 4 stars and a half but I don't reckon it's allowed.

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SR said...

Posted on Aug 10 2009 13:54 The book was interesting but it was too much of a filler.
At least David Yates was capable of making a very good movie out of a shoddie book.
Important things were ommited - true, no-one claimed the movie to be perfect and it lacks on many levels.
But as far as I am concerned - as a Harry Potter fan who has never really loved the movies that much - this is the first one that actually bothers to give the necessary importance to the characters and the relationship between them which, in essence, is what makes the books great and that's an important step.
If certain scenes and such have to be dismissed in order for this to be achieved, so be it.

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idalad said...

Posted on Aug 09 2009 01:52 Got rid of all the dodgy bits and fringe characters in the book- Draco Malfoy does a wicked job. Very good adaption.

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Liv said...

Posted on Aug 09 2009 01:51 The book of this I found really disapointing, the story line was weak, the characters were irritating and there was just way too much love angst. The film has successfully adapted the book into something actually... quite good. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I saw this film. A lot of the superfluous scenes were removed (hurrah!) and the story was made clearer and more succinct. The characters were written well. Rupert Grint (Ron), Tom Felton (Draco) and Jim Broadbent (Prof. Slughorn) make stand out performances. Interesting film as it shows a more sympathetic version of a once 'evil' character. From a not so great book to a very good film.

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jim said...

Posted on Aug 08 2009 20:20 why the hell was the killing curse blue. maybe david yates is a shit director and colour blind.

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Suzy said...

Posted on Aug 07 2009 17:57 Good visual effects but a poor story line. The film is just about linking the last bit of the story with the next. It doesn't stand alone as a good film so if you're not a big fan and haven't seen the other movies don't bother. I went with a friend who's a big big fan and even she was disappointed.

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Dom said...

Posted on Aug 07 2009 14:48 dumbledore should of not died in this film he was ace...and this film was kinda boring abit there was no fighting in it like they was in order of the phoenix he shoudlnt of died he was playing a great part in the film hope jk next film does better then this one

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Christine said...

Posted on Aug 07 2009 10:48 This is the second HP film that David Yates has managed to ruin. If I were JK Rowling I would be mortified. The whole essence and much of the background in the books has been ignored. David Yates cannot have read the books and, if he has, he certainly has no love for them. How dare he think he can do better than JK? Order of the Phoenix was the longest book, but the shortest film. Where's the logic in that? In Half Blood Prince he has left out memories essential to understanding the plot, Dumbledore's funeral, and inserted and changed other scenes so the film bears little resemblance to the book. David Yates may be OK at special effects and action scenes, but has no finesse, sensitivity, or affection for the characters and intricacies of the books. The first two films were very faithful to the books, the second two less so, but still retaining the right atmosphere, but the David Yates films have let down the whole series. He should have been fired after OOTP, and to have him direct the remainder is nothing less than a travesty.

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Lisa said...

Posted on Aug 06 2009 16:55 i was really disappointed :( it missed soooo much out of the books and the fantastic parts in the book were made much shorter in the film. not as good as the others, but effort was put in, so good try David Yates----- better luck next time....

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j.y said...

Posted on Aug 06 2009 15:44 c'mon at least put some of the good bits into the film! Why not put in Scrimguere the new Minister For Magic. Or Bill And Fluer in the film. He forgot when Bill git bitten by Fenrir Greyback and Fenrir Greyback did'nt even speak! And at the end the Order wasn't even fighting WHY? He should of taken out the boring bits and bring in the bits in the book! C'mon if he does the same mistake for The Deathly Hallows. He should be fined by JK Rowling, and JK Rowling should be the director lol !!!!!!!!!

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