Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12A)
IT'S HARD to believe that we are now onto the sixth Harry Potter film and that the young cast and their characters are almost all grown-up. As Harry, Ron and Hermione mature, so too has the sixth instalment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is asked by Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) to make friends with the new Potions teacher Professor Slughorn (the always excellent Jim Broadbent).
A teacher to the teenage Voldemort, Slughorn may hold information that could help Harry defeat the Dark Lord.
The boy wizard has a couple of other mysteries to solve too.
Why is Malfoy (Tom Felton) disappearing into the Room of Requirement so often?
And who is the Half-Blood Prince whose hand-written hints and tips in an old textbook are helping Harry to be top of the Potions class?
One of the joys of JK Rowlings' series of novels is her sense of humour, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is possibly the funniest of the films so far.
Much of the comedy lies in the flirting attempts of the young witches and wizards.
Rupert Grint as Ron shows himself again to be a great comedic actor when he finds himself bewitched by a love potion. Jessie Cave as Ron's over-zealous girlfriend Lavender provides many of the laughs, with the usually serious Hermione (Emma Watson) getting some good lines too.
Look out for spaced-out loony Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) whose outfit at the Quidditch match was a personal highlight.
The great thing about being six films into a franchise is that there's no need to set the scene and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince dives straight into the action.
The opening sequence, in which London's Millennium Bridge is destroyed by Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort's supporters, is an example of the improved special effects, which are spectacular but do not distract from the story.
Overall, the film does not have the same sense of danger or alarm as previous instalments but there are moments that will frighten younger viewers and, at two-and-a-half hours long, young children's attention may wander.
For the older viewer, though, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the most engaging of the series.
Radcliffe, Grint and Watson's acting has improved considerably, with Watson making the most progress.
The healthy dose of comedy and romance widens the appeal without alienating die-hard fans.
Those who have read the books know what is coming in parts one and two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the final book is too long to adapt into a single film) but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince whets the appetite for what are sure to be two excellent films to conclude this remarkable series.
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Weather for Girvan
Thursday 17 May 2012
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