Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

John Chard August 20, 2019

★ 6/10

Hormones over excitement as part six is merely an appetiser to the double billed closure to come. Death Eaters are running amok as Dumbledore has an important task for Harry and Voldermort has one for Draco; all set to the backdrop of raging adolescent hormones. While Harry also acquires a rather helpful book written by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. Potter 6 is not as dark as the pre-release chattings suggested it would be. Yes there's the usual dark moments, including a shattering turn of events that sets it up nicely for the finale, but this instalment is mostly fun, gentle and even sexy. Harry, Ron & Hermione are more under threat from their own adolescent urges than they are from the swirl of a Death Eater or the appearance of one young & creepy Tom Riddle. This of course makes for good viewing to most of us who have grown with the characters, with the principal young actor…

John Chard August 20, 2019

★ 6/10

The seventh installment, the appetiser. As the ultimate wizarding battle between good and evil draws ever closer, Harry, Hermione and Ron bunk off from Hogwarts to go search for the "Horcruxes" with which to halt the ever stronger Voldermort and his army, on the way they learn the importance of the Deathly Hallows artifacts. So this is the one that sees the comfort confines of Hogwarts left behind as our intrepid trio of best pals hit the mountains and forests in search of the tools to stop old snake face in his tracks. In what is ultimately a chase/escape movie, one where the characters have to fight not only a number of challenges that come their way, but also their new found in-fighting capabilities, Deathly Hallows 1 wonderfully dangles the carrot for the final series entry to come. But the overriding thoughts you come away with from it is that firstly it's not really that much…

Gimly August 12, 2020

★ 6/10

Has the quality direction of _Order of the Phoenix_ but manages to separate itself from that movie by having a script that isn't shit. Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.

Nathan January 6, 2023

★ 8/10

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may be the most mature film of the franchise with fantastic character development, but at the cost of action and a somewhat slow pace. The beginning of the film suffers from what a lot of these films do where the audience is taken from location to location, without any explanation as to why. It is difficult to follow at times, but it's a sacrifice that unfortunately has to be made when adapting a long novel into a feature-length film. Despite this film being the slowest of the series, it does a tremendous amount of leg work setting up the epic conclusion. From the introduction of the Horcruxes to the multiple scenes of Voldemort's past, the audience gets a ton of background information revealing details from the previous film that creates a more coherent story structure. Half-Blood Prince has a more focused return to Hogwarts and the class asp…

CinemaSerf July 20, 2024

★ 7/10

David Yates now really begins to take these stories to a new, potently darker level as "Harry" (Daniel Radcliffe) comes into possession of a book - formerly the property of the eponymous Prince. His skills increase exponentially and he soon begins to question whether he, himself, might be closer to the evil lord "Voldemort" than he had ever thought. The three principals are very much on the same wavelength now; the supporting cast likewise and there is even a little late hormonal activity as the awkwardness of teenage years (remember?) starts to feature too. This film also sees the arrival of Jim Broadbent as "Slughorn" - quite an engagingly enigmatic character and we can easily now sense that the battle lines are starting to be drawn... This is highly entertaining cinema. A big scale production and fine scoring builds on a strong story with characters we now know. A big screen must.