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Any series faces the danger of collapsing like a house
of cards if those working on each sequel attempt to only
duplicate what made the first film successful in the first
place. As enjoyable as Chris Columbus’ first “Harry Potter”
films were the fidelity to the literary source and their
genre direction would have prevented further adventures
if not for the popularity of the J. K. Rowling’s bestselling
books. Luckily, after Columbus stepped away as a director
the studio and Columbus (as producer) attracted top notch
talented directors who could direct exceptional films that
weren’t reliant on the reputation of the books to keep the
series afloat. Each succeeding film in the series was an
improvement on the first and, more importantly, each director
didn’t shy away from cutting material that didn’t fit into
the main narrative of the film cutting the umbilical cord
to the source material as much as possible allowing them
to stand on their own AND weren’t afraid to delve into the
dark themes that Rowling began to introduce with each succeeding
book. ***
“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” continues
that trend. The latest chapter in the Potter saga is the
best yet in the series with some truly complex performances
from the principal cast members and an examination of a
variety of themes that tie in nicely with the characters
conflicted feelings about becoming teenagers. What’s truly
remarkable though is the performance by Daniel Radcliffe
as Harry Potter; a boy when the series first began he has
both grown into the role and expanded his craft as an actor
providing subtle shading to the character of Harry. Complimenting
Radcliffe in a much different way actor Michael Gambon who
took over the role of Dumbledore moves his character into
similarly unexpected territories. I hate comparing novels
to films but it is notable when a character or actor moves
his portrayal beyond its literary source. That can be risky
business particularly when there is such a devoted following
of a character of series of novels like this. Gambom never
gives up on portraying the dignity and power at the heart
of the character of Dumbledore while also portraying the
weariness and inability to come to grips with his own life
mistakes a very different take on the much more reflective
Dumbledore of the novels. Gambom’s portrayal tends to give
Dumbledore an additional dimension missing from the character
in the novel. ***
As established in the previous film the evil Voldemort
has returned. Sirius Black Harry’s guardian has died at
the hand of one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Harry faces
Voldemort more alone than ever; sure he has the support
of Dumbledore and Ron’s family but he discovers that defeating
Voldemort may be his task alone. Professor Slughorn (Jim
Broadbent) returns from retirement to become Potions Master
again at the school while Severus Snape (Alan Rickman)finally
achieves his goal of becoming Defense Against the Dark Arts
Professor. ***
Slughorn’s return remains a mixed blessing while he
is undoubtedly one of the finest professors that Hogswart
has ever had, he indulges his ego allowing his students
to worship him to a certain extent which helped Tom Riddle
(Lord Voldemort) to rise to power. Slughorn also holds key
information as to how and why Voldemort became who and what
he was. It’s up to Harry to convince Slughorn to share this
memory and for Harry to decipher the meaning of it and how
it can help him ultimately defeat Voldemort. What’s more
Harry isn’t sure he WANTS to be this messiah figure that
all the rest of the magic world wants him to be. ---
Image & Sound:
Magic had nothing to do with the sharp, extremely good
transfer to Blu-ray we have here. Even during the darkest
scenes (and there are plenty of those in ANY Harry Potter
film), detail remains remarkably strong. Black levels are
solid throughout and colors remain true to the heatrical
presentation of the original films. Skin tones are remarkably
consistent and natural looking throughout (well, as natural
as a dark looking film and one that stays on the cool side
of color can be). ***
With a remarkably active, strong Lossless mix "Harry
Potter and the Half Blood Prince" is among the best sounding
Blu-ray discs on the market at the moment. I dare say that
this is a demo disc for the most part. Audio remains crisp
and clear for dialogue throughout the film and activity
for the surround speakers remain consistently high even
during scenes that are dialogue driven.
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