Traditionally sequels steal from the magic of the original film. One can only hope that these installments of a film franchise break even and sustain the interest of its fan base. But tell that to J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, one of the best-selling books and mass media franchise in the world. They are now in the midst of the success of their sixth movie sequel: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
So before this article, our 3D animation studio Mediafreaks previewed the charismatic wizard’s upcoming film days before its worldwide debut in here. We knew it was going to be all about showing the coming-of-age of the wizards in the context of a brewing tempest of evil magic with the dark wizard Voldemort. We said before to expect lots of sequences similar to Sweet Valley High and Beverly Hills 90210.
And it was there indeed. We see Hermione and Ron showing hints of their romantic tensions together. Moreover, Harry Potter starts to see Ron’s sister Ginny Weasley in a different light. There are promenade dances, flirty looks and snogging in the dark corners of the Hogswart School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hormones, hormones and hormones everywhere and still the director David Yates was still able to make everything look wholesome.
The pacing of the show – even for a two and a half hour movie such as Half Blood Prince – lacks focus. This is what happens when the writers of a movie adaptation of a popular novel try to please all readers as much as they can. But dear reader, please consider that a novel takes about days to finish reading while a movie has to be finished in one sitting. In other words, this is a classic case of cramming.
Therefore, one will undoubtedly miss the character build-up by which J. K. Rowling made all her millions. It will be a short show-and-tell of sequences and events – not so much as what is happening in the minds of the characters while they are in their moments. For this reason, the plot lacked a singular direction.
The movie tried to show all the hormone-driven teenage angst, the introduction of the character of the teacher Horace Slughorn and the final confrontation in the end featuring Albus Dumbledore. It tried to show everything that the movie seems to just pass by in front of our eyes. Before we know it, the ending was already here and I was still trying to make sense of the Half Blood Prince book and if it was used in a central way in the movie.
To be fair, this is a seven-book series. Actually, this will be a series of eight movies because the studios planned to divide the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two movies to give all Harry Potter fans a fitting closure to a wizarding world which have been loved by many. Thus, if one will watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in series with all the past movies, then one can have a good background of the mythology of the series.
The acting was not over-the-top nor was it noteworthy at all. We guess by this time people have come to take for granted the acting of the protagonists Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger). But in all honesty, we think the role of Hermione wasn’t given much chance to shine and was relegated as a brooding and conflicted admirer of Ron.
The 3D animation special effects are effective in integrating themselves in the flow of the movie. The initial scene where a Muggle bridge was destroyed by Death Eaters is a good example of this. All in all, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince adequately fits itself into the entire franchise – although it is not the best yet. We hope we are in for a treat for the next two movies.
Leave a Reply