Since 2001, J.K. Rowling’s Best-Selling Harry Potter books have been made into movies and, together, the first five films have grossed billions of dollars worldwide. For me this 6th installment is a bit of a disappointment.
In “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts for another year of schooling. Shouldn’t they all be in college by now you might ask? Well, actually, they’re in high school, and they’re all falling in love. A lot of the film deals with the romantic problems involving Harry, Ron and Hermione. And it’s all pretty silly.
The other plot line involves Harry trying to learn a secret from one of the new teachers in the school that will help he and Dumbledore defeat the evil Voldemort once and for all.
There is some action in “Harry Potter 6”, but just not enough for me. And Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) don’t do much in the movie at all except complain that the person they wish was their boyfriend or girlfriend is the boyfriend and girlfriend of someone else. Maybe if you’re a “Harry Potter” diehard this is interesting stuff because you care about these characters, but for me it was boring and the performances, especially Grint’s, is just plain goofy.
The rest of the acting is O.K. The special effects are fine, but nothing very special. The film runs about 2hrs. 40min. but it goes by faster and is less painful to watch than the 2hr. 20min. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, so that’s good at least.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is rated PG. There are a few scary scenes and wizard violence. It’s appropriate for anyone who’s old enough to read the books.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” gets a C. If you’re a big fan of the series of course it’s a must own. And for you it’s probably a B+. Since this was only my second “HP” film, I was a bit under-whelmed.
Production of the film version of the 7th and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, is already underway. The movie will be released in two parts. I haven’t read the book and have no idea how the series ends. After “Half-Blood Prince” I’m not sure I care.