Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
David Yates
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Plot Summary
Emboldened by the return of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters are wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Dumbledore is intent upon preparing Harry for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. He needs Harry to help him uncover a vital key to unlocking Voldemort's defenses--critical information known only to Hogwarts' former Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. Meanwhile, teenage hormones rage across the ramparts as Harry's long friendship with Ginny Weasley is growing into something deeper. But standing in the way is Ginny's boyfriend, Dean Thomas, not to mention her big brother Ron. Ron's got romantic entanglements of his own to worry about, with Lavender Brown lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings. One student, however, remains aloof with far more important matters on his mind. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one.
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Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
TOMATOMETER
84%- Reviews Counted: 255
- Fresh: 213
- Rotten: 42
- Average Rating: 7.1/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: The Half-Blood Prince is a beautifully paced feat of filmmaking, one that navigates potentially choppy shifts in scale with grace and ease.
Fresh: It's a more mature magic. ... Now subject to the same raging hormones as any other 16-year-olds, our spell-casting heroes are learning to brew love potions this year, with results mostly played for laughs.
Rotten: All in all, despite the verve that drives the grander set pieces, it's hard to avoid the sensation of a film toiling overtime to convince itself of its own solemnity.
Fresh: Director David Yates presides over some gorgeous CGI set pieces, but all the real magic comes from the scrum of ace British character actors.
Customer Reviews
Hmmm
While the film was good, I believe they thoroughly screwed up on the plot taking artistic license so far as to add in major scenes that aren't part of the true story and leave out massively important scenes that actually were. No more messing around, leave the stories as they are. Isn't that why they are popular?
Potter is still Potter, only better.
The "Half Blood Prince" is by far the most visually stunning film out of the franchise. The scenes are darker and if you haven't read the books (like me) then the mystery of what evil schemes are unfolding is nerve racking.
This film departs from the others in the sense that it focuses more on the events within the school rather than the adventures outside of them. You spend more time in classrooms and in the middle of school events in this one and that's really ok by me.
It starts off fun and free spirited, giving us one of the best scenes I've seen of a Quidditch match. This scene stood out as one of my favorite, as the very appropriate soundtrack plays in the background.
We see the characters grow up as they start dealing with love and Ron deals with stardom on a small scale thanks to his great performance at the Quidditch match.
But then the film takes a dark turn, slowly leaving the walls of the school and giving us a small peek at what's lurking on the outside.
What results is a film that gets us anxious to see what happens next and it's a perfect set-up for the next film.
This one gets everything right, giving us the best of what the world of Harry Potter has to offer: the music, the Quidditch, the comedy, the characters, and it doesn't skimp on anything.
This may be a movie that only a follower of the Harry Potter films and books can appreciate fully, but if you watch the ones before it then you'll have no problem with this one.
I haven't read any of the books, but the films really are great stand-alone triumphs.
Not my favorite
In my opinion, they should have focused more on the backstory of draco's mission like they did in the book, and less on romance. There wasn't THAT much romance in the book, more action. They made it the opposite. Please, if we wanted to see romance, we would have just stayed home and watched the notebook.
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- $9.99
- Genre: Kids & Family
- Released: 2009
- © HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights J.K. Rowling. 2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
