A Princely Tale

Today, I caught the latest film installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I remembered really liking the book on which this one is based, both the first time around, and the second time I read it, just days before the release of the final book. But the more I started to think about how it would adapt to film, the more I began to wonder how it would really come off.

To be blunt, not a lot happens in Half-Blood Prince. Oh, sure, there's the Big Event that caps the story, the spoiler everyone tried to avoid before finishing the book, a shocker at the time and a truly powerful piece of writing. But when you really get at the plot of this story, there's not much there. Dumbledore is going on an historical fact-finding mission through memories related to Voldemort, and tasks Harry with securing a key memory from the new Hogwarts professor. That's it. The goal is to gather exposition. No mysterious attacks at the school, no death threats from escaped criminals, no wizard tournament... basically nothing to truly drive the action.

When you get down to it, though Half-Blood Prince was an expertly written character piece (assuming you were actually attached to the characters by that point; I know I was), it has classic "middle chapter" syndrome. The last three Harry Potter novels really are a dark little trilogy of their own, kicked off and wrapped up in exciting fashion with lots of action and adventure. And for the middle book that is book six? Laying tracks for the next book.

And so it is that Half-Blood Prince makes for an occasionally boring movie. The screen writer seems keenly aware of the issue. Almost every time there's a long stretch where you're just about to check your watch, some whiz-bang moment comes along to jolt your interest... though they do sometimes feel a bit artificial.

But that said, when the movie is working, it does so exceptionally well. The acting in these films remains superb, as it always has been. There are several key scenes that really pack a powerful emotional punch in this story, and they really do as presented on film. Emma Watson is particularly good as Hermione in this film, playing a teenage love story with great skill and empathy. (And to think, she's considering giving up acting after her Harry Potter run is concluded!)

And of course, that final revelation -- the one that at least one person I know somehow is still blissfully unware of to this day (and I can't wait to hear his reaction to the movie) -- is perfect. The entire cast makes you feel the weight of it.

David Yates, the director who so capably handled the last installment, Order of the Phoenix does another brilliant job here. Beyond his obviously great work in capturing such good performances, there's a great style to the visuals. At several points, there's a brilliant use of depth and levels, for both humor and drama. There are plenty of striking visuals that have nothing to do with with the computer effects (though they are, once again, strong).

Overall, I'd rate this movie a B. There's a lot of really great work here, and the faults are really just the problems of having a book that couldn't really be adapted well for the screen.

Speaking of which... we'll see in a while how an adaptation challenge of an entirely different kind is tackled, when Deathly Hallows arrives in Kill Bill-esque, two-volume fashion.