182: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PG) - 2009 - Runtime: 153 minutes
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Director: David Yates

I know your mind is already made up on this one. You're either going to go see it (or already have) or you don't care about Mr. Potter. So does this work as a movie? And is it good? I'm not even going to compare this to the book because it's pointless - I'd rather argue about what this movie does than what it doesn't. And this movie does almost everything perfectly.

The first scene in the movie just blew me away. You follow, like a rollercoaster cam, the path of some Death Eaters through London. It's amazing. Visually, I'm still on the fence of whether I like the color tones of this movie. It's all very dark and not a light of bright colors. It works, especially in the memory scenes, which are tinted green. I just don't know if I like it a lot.

This was no doubt one of my favorite movies this year. I just had a lot of fun watching it. The movie's pace and plot wasn't too confusing for those very few that haven't read the books. It's by far the best Harry Potter movie since Prisoner of Azkaban. I also found myself laughing a lot. At one point in the movie Dumbledore says he's an old man. And Potter replies, "You look the same to me." I laughed out loud (and embarrassingly was the only one to do so in the silent theater), because I thought it was a funny moment about how everyone has changed except for Dumbledore. There were some genuinely funny moments, especially from Radcliffe when he swallowed the good luck charm ("it has pincers").

I also was really impressed by all the acting. It seems that everyone has fully grown into their roles. Even Draco Malfoy, who I thought had probably the most difficult challanges in the movie. He used to be a one-note character in the movies but here Tom Felton really does make him a complete character and I never once found his performance off-key. Everyone else is great and I thought Rickman (perfect casting, BTW) was the best of the bunch.

And to those complaining about stuff left out, why bother? Read the damn book. If you want a movie, this is it. It's not going to get any better - so relax and just enjoy what's probably the most fun (and funniest) HP movie so far! So obviously, you've already made the decision on whether you're going to go see it, so I won't bother with recommendations. But you can't deny this is probably the movie of the summer.

Rating: Buy It!