Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

How Harry has made us proud.  He was always a popular boy, but to judge him by his first year, he didn’t seem to have the talent to back up those expectations.  He lived in a world that was poorly thought out, visually dull, and artistically vacant (thanks to headmaster/ director Christopher Columbus), and he himself – well, let us kindly say that the boy must have been holding his acting a bit in reserve.  He was surrounded by the best in teachers, of course, but Professor Maggie Smith and Professor Alan Rickman seemed almost wasted on the child during their all too brief appearances.

Yet now he has bloomed before our eyes. It was not all at once, of course. We have seen him developing since third year, much as his books developed at that same point.  A change in headmasters helped do the trick then.  This film, like the 2007 film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is directed by David Yates, who will also be with the franchise during it's final two installments. Yates has really found his feet this time, and he has managed to create something with visual panache, humor, intrigue, and even, one must note, good performances from all his young leads.

Harry himself, or Daniel Radcliffe as he is know to us muggles, has developed his talent onstage recently during his much ballyhooed Broadway debut in Equus.  Radcliffe may be more popular here than he is even in the imaginary celluloid place where he is the most important person in the world.  But he is not just popular, he is a child actor who has become a truly decent young adult star, along with his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), his enemy Draco (Tom Felton), and the rest of the young gang.

And how refreshing it is to see some talented newcomers in this year’s class:  the tried and true Jim Broadbent as Slughorn, and, as young Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as He Who Must Not Be Named was once called, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin. Ralph Fiennes’ young nephew makes an uncanny version of the character his uncle plays as an adult, not just because of the physical resemblance, but also because of his disconcerting maturity, reminiscent of Haley Joel Osment’s performance in The Sixth Sense.

Finally, of course, there is Smith and especially Rickman, or McGonagall and Snape as they are known.  And Michael Gambon, also known as Dumbledore. These veterans of Hogwarts have never been so satisfyingly utilized as they were is this year’s efforts.

One must also note Steve Kloves, the screenwriter for this year and for most of the previous years. In the past, his work has not always been equally impressive, but now that it is clear that he can take 650 pages and effectively convey it in 153 minutes, I expect no less when he takes the next 750 and stretches it between the two final installments.

And what of those two final two films, which will tell the story of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?  It is hard to say.  The final book was not the best of the series, but not the worst either. And Yates will have a formidable cast with which to tell his story, it seems.  But for now, he can have a moment of well deserved congratulations. His report has come back, and he’s Exceeded Expectations.  A charitable grader might even give him an Outstanding.

                                              Edward Einhorn