Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

A NOTE TO THE FANS: THERE ARE SOME THINGS IN THIS FILM THAT YOU MAY DISAGREE WITH, LIKE WHAT THEY CUT OUT OR USE OF CHARACTERS. I WAS UPSET WITH SOME OF THESE BUT SINCE THIS IS A MOVIE REVIEW I AM CASTING MY FAN INPUT ASIDE.
Last November, fans were outraged when they learned that the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series would be pushed back until July 15th...but now the wait is over. Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m., I set my eyes upon the visually stunning Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In this installment, the shadow of Lord Voldemort's evil reign is very prevalent, making this film the darkest yet. However, what screen writer Steve Kloves managed to do is balance the amount of darkness with romance and comedy. This picture had more of these three elements than the first five, and they are what I will talk about in this review.
Before that though, let me explain the plot line. Now this film has many sub-plots, but after looking back, there is one main plot that looms over the whole film. After the grand opening, we see the main hero, Harry Potter(Daniel Radcliffe), alongside Professor Albus Dumbledore(Michael Gambon.) Together they travel to the home of Horace Slughorn(Jim Broadbent) so that Dumbledore can recruit him to teach at Hogwarts school. It turns out that teaching isn't the only reason Dumbledore hired Slughorn. Knowing that Slughorn holds the memory that will tell how to once and for all kill Voldemeort, Dumbledore sends Harry to become one of the his pet student in hopes of learning the secret. As always, Harry has the help of his two best friends Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger(Emma Watson.)
Now I can talk about the three main elements in this film. First, let's look at the romance. Harry's classmates are growing up, so obviously we had to know the romantic themes would arrive eventually. Sure enough, this film contains more romance than all of its predecessors and it is the element that dominated the film. When the students arrived at Hogwarts, not many scenes went by with either a couple seen making out, students acting jealous towards one anothher, or nervous tensions dominating the scene. Because of this, Half Blood Prince(HBP) is more like watching a romantic comedy rather than a fantasy epic, thus making it much different from the first five.
Now for the comedy: HBP is also the funniest Potter film to date with comedy falling into almost all of the scenes that weren't dark or intense. Most of the time the comedy interacted with the romance, but there are all forms of comedy in this film and interestingly enough, this is the funniest film I've seen all summer (I've seen some pitiful comedies.) Both the romance and comedy were important because it helped the film not be sad and dark the whole two and a half hours. When a sad or intense scene would come up, comedy would bounce up after it.
THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A FEW VERY MINOR SPOILERS.
This film has more romance and comedy but it also contains more dark, intense elements than the first five as well. Besides the fact that the world is falling into darkness because of Voldemort, there are other subjects and scenes that are very intense. For example, near the climax, Harry must force Dumbledore to drink a liquid that is torturing his mind and soon after they are attacked by zombie like creatures. HBP contains several battles, some bloody moments, and at times feels very sad and hopeless with the essence of death throughout the film. If it were not for Harry's somewhat reassuring word's at the picture's end, I would have left feeling very sad.
Let me wrap up with a few other variables of the film. The special effects were great and exceeded the past films like everything else. I was very happy to see Quidditch back in the film and the sport looks much more real than the first three films. All the action sequences had great CGI, which made them more enjoyable. Also, as the trio grows older(Dan, Rupert, and Emma), their acting improves as well and it shows in HBP. Other actors such as Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, and especially Alan Rickmen(who once again acts greatly as Severus Snape) all put on solid performances.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a stunning film that has just about everything... action, romance, comedy, suspense, drama, and good deal of redemptive content, like sacrifice and putting one's self before another. While this Potter film may not be as impressive as Mike Newell's Goblet of Fire(the fourth in the series), it is a great installment in the series and it leaves me longing for the final two films. 4 stars out of 5.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has a running time of two hours and thirty-three minutes. It is rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.