Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Visually the most elaborate piece of nothing yet. An empty script in which Emma Watson overacts her sad and jealous grimaces, Potter chases everyone but the right girl, and the third guy in the bunch is totally out of touch with the reality of what's going on. There's an excruciatingly large amount of high school romance and damn little action or drama in the story, and the little there is, it barely lasts a few minutes or is at the end. A woefully lacklustre and uninteresting episode that served only as a prelude to the grand finale. (27/06/2023)

I enjoyed most of the sixth Potter (despite the guy in front of me who was farting throughout, I’m not kidding!), or rather that applies until the movie reached the end and I was literally disgusted by what the screenwriter was doing (from the point where Harry and D return to the Hogwarts). I haven’t see a more bungled finale in this series yet. Certainly Yates gets the maximum out of this, but that means that, differently to in the book, the characters behave illogically and everything seems a little slow. The finale in the book was as tense as a guitar string. Surprising, logical and maybe the best that Rowling wrote. Where is the big battle, where is the inevitability? Wasted words. It’s completely different right from the start. The story takes off a amazing speed and if it weren’t for the rather exaggerated love interest (they only included that to lighten the mood a little) I would be happy with it. I really liked Jim Broadbent’s Slughorn - he was just right for the part and more than satisfied my expectations. Otherwise, it’s a classic, but maybe Tom Felton and Alan Rickman were more striking than last time. In the end I’m giving it 4 stars, even though it was rather lame this time. P.S.: At home we have exactly the same water glasses as the ones that Harry, Hermi and Ron drink the butterbeer from at the Three Broomsticks. (01/08/2009)

Considering Yates managed to get something out of the most superfluous part of the book that ends up not working because of that superfluousness (aka zero action), then I have nothing left to do than look forward to the adaptation of book seven which might at last aspire to toppling Cuarón’s offering from its position of best Harry Potter movie adaptation. (21/07/2009)

Some things were extra (the opening digital destruction of London), some things were not enough (ironically, the mystery of the Half-blood Prince), but the film is still excellent and David Yates proves that his previous success was no accident. The story has once again pared the book down to the bare essentials. There are many characters, but the most interesting ones get the most space they deserve (apart from the central trio, they are probably Dumbledore, Snape, Malfoy and the Horace Slughorn), there is no lack of emotion or suspense (for those unfamiliar with the story, there are also a few surprises and even shocks), a nice romantic and friendly storyline and a few rewardingly funny scenes (brewing potions, Ron the Catcher...) to lighten and balance the necessary fatefulness. As a warm-up for the finale, The Half-Blood Prince is perfect. (11/09/2015)

I read somewhere the other day that the sixth Harry Potter film will be a bridge from the fifth to the final episodes. And that's what it looks like in the overall scheme of things. Since David Yates has been in the director's chair, this saga has taken on a grim veneer of action. I don't think that's missing here. The audio-visual execution, including the cinematography, is really good, especially the Millennium Bridge and the cave scene. The screenplay is based on the book, but other material has been brought to the surface, which at times mars the overall look of the film. The soundtrack fits the scenes perfectly – again, I liked the cave scene best. Casting Jim Broadbent as Slughorn was an excellent move, because that's sort of how I imagined his character. The final scene with Dumbledore and Snape and then with Snape was quite disappointing for me, but it is a "bridge" after all. For me, probably the weakest episode of the whole saga, excelling in the technical area rather than the script and the actors. (29/07/2010)