Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

O Masterpiece

O Excellent

X Good

O OK

O Mediocrity

O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / July 16, 2009

Few visions are more entertaining than seeing an old wizard going berserk and unleashing some angry wizardry. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” delivers one such display.

In fact, each filmic adaptation of author J.K. Rowling’s series has provided numerous imaginative images, giving double meaning to the phrase “movie magic.” “Half-Blood Prince” represents the series well, with intriguing concepts like memory-filled vials, “liquid luck,” unbreakable vows, and of course, the revelation of the half-blood prince’s identity.

Not all the “Harry Potter” movies are equal, but I’m happy to report that “Half-Blood Prince” is one of the better films (along with “Prisoner of Azkaban” and “Order of the Phoenix”).

In “Half-Blood Prince,” Dumbledore seeks to convince Horace Slughorn, a professor of potions, to return to Hogwarts because his memory contains a valuable secret that could finally end Harry Potter’s conflict with Voldemort. This new movie also has the creepy Tom Riddle (Voldemort as a young pupil) played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, the nephew of actor Ralph Fiennes, who plays the adult Voldemort.

The “Harry Potter” movies hit the big screen in 2001, and the “Half-Blood Prince” is the sixth installment of the saga. The remaining two films (which both will be adapted from the seventh and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”) are slated for release in November 2010 and July 2011.

Looking over the eight-year span of the currently released movies, it’s interesting to see how the three principal actors — Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) — have grown up before our eyes.

This cinematic, age-archiving phenomenon reminds me a little of Michael Apted’s incredible “Up” documentaries, which have revisited several individuals every seven years for the past 42 years (so far) to see how closely their lives have unfolded, relative to their plans.

Assigning a one-word verdict to summarize a movie is as inadequate as trying to label a person using the same method. I’m often asked why I rate movies like the “Half-Blood Prince” as merely “good,” instead of “excellent.” Simple. There has to be room for distinguishing even better films — excellent ones like “Fargo,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Unforgiven” and “Monster.”

And rarer still, the controversial “masterpiece” rating is only given to truly extraordinary films like “Goodfellas,” “Hoop Dreams,” “Life Is Beautiful” and the “Up” documentaries mentioned above.

Directed by David Yates

Daniel Radcliffe / Michael Gambon / Alan Rickman

Fantasy 153 min.

MPAA: PG (for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality)