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Following on the slam-bang conclusion of Potter #5, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) heads back to Hogwarts for his sixth year of tutelage in the art of magic. But awful things are brewing: London faces terror-style attacks from Voldemort's crew, while Draco (Tom Felton) and Snape (Alan Rickman) scheme up a nefarious plot against Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). And part of the mystery of Lord Voldemort is about to be unraveled, thanks to Horace Slughorn (veteran English actor Jim Broadbent, put to excellent use), a professor brought out of retirement.
Into this mix come, well, lots of hormones, with the series' key dalliances (Ron + Hermione; Harry + Ginny) in a tug-of-war against numerous other couplings at the school, with break-ups and make-ups aplenty. Seriously, more spit is swapped in this film than anything you'd see late at night on Cinemax, though everyone keeps their clothes firmly on throughout the proceedings.
Indeed, the presentation is all quite genteel, lazily drifting between romantic couplings and deep conversations with Dumbledore, before making way for, say, an abrupt wizards' duel. The action scenes - the film does contain several awfully good ones -- arrive suddenly and end hastily. Characters lie bleeding to death on the floor before your adrenaline realizes it's supposed to be pumping. Then it's back to the snogging.
Fortunately, director David Yates displays a firm grasp of character, and more than any other Potter film save perhaps the first, Half-Blood Prince gets into the heads of its characters instead of just dazzling us with wand-wielding sorceries and fantastic monsters. That said, the CGI wizardry on display is, as usual, top-notch. Exceptional fire effects abound, and a dreamy memory-reliving device effectively melds action with animation.
Clocking in at more than 2 1/2 hours, the film's length is its only real problem. Judicious editing could have easily trimmed a half hour or more, resulting in tighter, more urgent pacing. True, Potter purists would likely have cried foul at missing a nuance here or there, but at a 'mere' 650 pages, Half-Blood Prince is actually far shorter than its predecessor. The final book in the series is being split into two movies, both due out in 2011. If nothing else, this new film does a great job of setting things up for what looks to be quite an exciting finish.
Indulge me, however, regarding the painfully advancing ages of the series' young cast members. Only one year passes during and between each film, but they're produced and released a year and a half to two years apart. As a result, the cast has grown older faster than their characters. Men and women in their 20s now pretend to be 16-year-olds. Poor Tom Felton, now almost 22, looks like he should be working a job at Goldman Sachs. Fortunately for all of these actors, they're almost free of Potter's chains, and grown-up work can finally begin.
The DVD includes two discs, with deleted scenes, cast and crew interviews, and making-of featurettes.
Yeah, Twilight is my favorite movie, too.
