the 6th film

I can’t wait.

Harry Potter’s 6th Outing is darker, scarier
By Ruel S. De Vera
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A STARTLING realization strikes the viewer from the very first scene of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” a maliciously magical attack by the Death Eaters on London’s Millennium Bridge: This isn’t anything like the book.

That is exactly what is going on with director David Yates’ adaptation of the sixth novel in J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts series. In a much more drastic version of what they did for 2008’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves have essentially draped a Cloak of Invisibility over some 70 percent of the 652-page novel.

Entire chapters of the book have disappeared. And it works—brilliantly.

Yates’ transformed “Prince” is a nimble, crisp film that moves confidently from scene to scene. Additionally, Yates has now set the film fully as a truly distinctive creation apart from the novel; an overly slavish devotion to the source material had weighed down Chris Columbus’s first forays in the series.

“Prince” feels like a fully formed film all by itself. What we get then is an increasingly troubling reflection on growing up.

Returning to Hogwarts after the death of Sirius Black in “Order,” Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) are now moving about in a world aware that the Dark Lord Voldemort has been resurrected.

Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) has hired the Dark Lord’s former teacher, Horace Slughorn (“Moulin Rouge” showman Jim Broadbent) to teach potions in an attempt to find out more. Harry also suspects that Slytherin prefect Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is up to no good, and that Professor Severus Snape (coldly effective Alan Rickman) is in league with the Death Eaters.

Quidditch makes a dynamic, diverting return. While all of that is going on, Ron gets a girlfriend and Harry is drawn to Ron’s baby sister Ginny (graceful Bonnie Wright).

“Prince” starts with a slow burn, as seemingly innocuous things start to add up to a dangerous sum. An increasingly agitated Harry sees what’s happening but no one seems to believe him.

As he and Dumbledore seemingly get closer to finding a way to destroy Voldemort, the turning point of the entire series happens suddenly, irrevocably, in what amounts to a very stripped-down finale. Even if you know what’s going to happen, the treachery and tragedy at the heart of “Prince” is stunning when it arrives.

Hardcore Potter fans will be disappointed at just how much has been left out even though “Prince” clocks in at two hours and 33 minutes. As a result, some of the film’s business (like who exactly the half-blood Prince is) is dealt with rather abruptly.

Still, “Prince” felt overloaded as a book and that problem is solved here. Characters are shuttled in and out of scenes with surprising swiftness. It is also a shock to see just how grown-up the actors have gotten.

Has it really been eight years since “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” introduced us to the students of Hogwarts? The square-jawed Radcliffe and the smoldering Felton, in particular, acquit themselves well in what amounts to a polarized duel of young wizards.

As Dumbledore, Gambon occupies his role with an authoritative determination. While Yates plays much of the romantic high jinks for laughs and some cheesiness, he also makes it clear that this is the Hogwarts gang’s first brush with real affection—and the results are fetchingly bittersweet.

Be warned that this is a very mature, somewhat disturbing film. There are downright terrifying scenes, such as the attack of the Inferi. The film may be rated PG, but it is clearly too much for young children.

More than the creatures, it is the heartrending emotional content that strikes deep. Even the film’s design and music feel more somber, more restrained. Everyone and everything is growing up.

With this, only one book in the series remains. Yates directs “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in two anticipated installments, set for the fall of 2010 and the summer of 2011.

Both will have a tough act to follow, because “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is, surprisingly, the best of the Potter movies yet as the franchise finally comes to age. This is “The Empire Strikes Back” for the Hogwarts universe in all its dark glory.

Evil is upon us. We bear witness with the awe and hope of rewarded true believers.