When you’ve produced as many high quality films as the “Harry Potter” series has over the past decade, it’s only fair to expect some type of decline over time. While the newest incarnation of the series, “The Half-Blood Prince,†is still an excellent film, it ends up serving as a tease for the next film, rather than a full-fledged feature that provides a sense of completeness.
The first two acts of the film show us quite a different Hogwarts, one that is infested with couples making out and lonely hearts trying to find love, making the ancient school of witchcraft and wizardry feel more like a British version of “Saved by the Bell.†It is here where we see how much the characters have grown up and for many hardcore fans, it’s a fun and engaging experience and one that alone makes the movie enjoyable.
For instance, the love card is one heavily played in the film, as every main character that is still in their teens has some sort of relationship with the opposite sex they must deal with. The connection between Ron [Rupert Grint] and Hermoine [Emma Watson] alone is worth the price of admission for many fans, as it is as charming as it is funny. However, it’ll provide a different feeling for those who have followed the series over the years and will take some getting used to, but lets face it, these aren’t the same kids we feel in love with. They’re all grown up now and because of that, there’s more drama than intrigue and less waxing of poetics and more serious matters to attend to, the biggest being the rising forces of Voldemort and his minions.
This battle between good and evil also produces several other key developments, as many of the older characters have also been undergoing changes that haven’t been explained. Simply put, the battle lines have been drawn and finding out where some of these characters stand is shocking. However, most of the developments aren’t as drawn out as much as you’d like, leaving you to wait for the next film to find out the real juicy stuff.
On a positive note, you will see the beginning of the battle being prepared for, with Harry [played by the ever-growing Daniel Radcliffe] joining forces with Albus Dumbledore [Michael Gambon] once they find out another piece to the Voldemort puzzle that has the potential to destroy both the magical and muggle world. Seeing these two join forces outside the castle is a blast, but unfortunately, it doesn’t last for long. By the time the real action begins, the film is over and the big battle is being planned out, producing more sighs of frustration than anything else.
Call it a clever plot device, but in the end, it’s fair to say that it isn’t fair to create a 153-minute film that leaves more questions unanswered than answered. With the next film not being released until 2011, fans will either have to wait around or buy the final book in the series to get their fix. Again, call it clever marketing, but the end result of this film is one that leaves viewers wanting much more than ever before.
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