Monday, July 20, 2009

Movie Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (Warner Bros., 2009)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) Poster

Actually, given the lack of true excitement in the sixth book in the HARRY POTTER series, the movie-makers could have been excused if they'd seen fit to rename this film ...The Bloodless Prince. Though the running length of 2 1/2 hours is on the seriously unconscionable side, the movie version turns out to be not that bad. One could argue that too much time is spent on the vital matter of "who's snogging whom and why," but then, the book chewed on that particular bone for a good long while. The identity of the "Half-Blood Prince" is dispensed with in toss-off fashion -- even more so than in the book -- but it's really fairly irrelevant to the story. The movie does deliver nicely during the climactic scenes in the seaside cave and at the top of the Hogwarts tower, and British actor Jim Broadbent makes a wholly believable Professor Horace Slughorn, the ultimate "Charlie Mingle" type (and if you can identify to whom I'm referring in quotes, you're GOOD, I'll say that much!!). Needless to say, it would be madness to see the movie without being familiar with the Harry Potter universe.

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Speaking of magic, Tom Watson's finally ran out at the worst possible moment yesterday. Still, it was a great run and will probably be remembered for far longer than will the identity of the British Open's eventual winner.

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