Harry Potter (16) boards a train from London to go the Hogwarts wizard school, which he attends with his friends Ron and Hermione. He also finds a book of spells by a certain "Half-Blood Prince". The headmaster of the school, Dumbledore, approaches Harry and tells him about the evil former student at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle, who later became their nemesis, Lord Voldemort. Harry manages to convince his Professor Slughorn to reveal a part of his memory when he talked with Riddle. This causes Dumbledore to transport himself and Harry to a cave where they destroy one of Voldemort's hidden Horcrux, which grant the villain strength. Upon returning, a student, Malfoy, was asigned by Voldemort to assassinate Dumbledore. He hesitates, and thus Severus assassinates Dumbledore instead. Severus is revealed to be the "Half-Blood Prince". Harry is shocked and left uncertain at what will happen next.
The 6th installment of the popular "Harry Potter" film series is just for fans: it is too narrow to truly ignite interest from other viewers or groups. The main problem is the thin story: it is an obvious filler which exists not because of inspiration, but because of commercial motives to "milk" the franchise for as much as possible, when in fact the only noteworthy event happens at the end (the death of an important character), anyway. But to get to that important part, the viewers have to pave their way through a routine, schematic, overlong storyline with artificial subplots which are irrelevant for the overall story arc. This should have been a 30 minute film, but was overstretched into a running time of two and a half hours. Luckily, unlike some of its predecessors, "Half-Blood Prince" at least has some measure, refusing to resort to shock scenes or moments of disgust. The characters are also underused and underwritten: the only charming moment is Ron's love relationship with a girl, Lavender, who mischievously puffs a "foggy" mirror and draws a heart sign for him during a train ride. Harry and Hermione are pale, in comparison. They lack true "magic" to seize the viewers interest. An occasional comical scene shows up to to liven up the grey mood (a student throwing up over Severus' feet, who tells him he now has a month worth of detention), but the movie needed more of them. Overall a solid film, yet it made the error of relying only on "empty walk" and empty dark mood, since all the character seem to just "sleep walk" through these elaborate set designs.
Grade:+
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