Half-Blood Prince reviews, reviews, reviews
We have five Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince reviews to share with you this morning. Below are samples from each of them. Thanks to everyone who sent in the links to these!
– ComingSoon.net: As much as the focus remains on the younger cast, this installment is clearly Michael Gambon's moment to shine as Professor Dumbledore after spending a good portion of the last movie in the wings. For the actor to follow the likes of the legendary Richard Harris in the role and make it his own character is quite an achievement. Similarly, Jim Broadbent does a great job filling in as this installment's “special guest,” a doddering sycophant who has his own plans for Harry.
– Joblo.com: I have to say, this was the most satisfying book-to-film transfer of them all. It never felt rushed. They took time to tell the story. The effects were wonderful, but not overdone. With a few exceptions, they included the major plot points from the book. I left just as breathless as I did after the first one.
– The Telegraph: Director David Yates and his cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel set the tone right at the start, with a brilliant opening scene that shows evil sweeping into the normal world in explosive black trails of smoke, creating dark storms over London and destroying the Millennium Bridge.
– This Is London: Prime amongst the additions this time is Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, a vague, bumbling expert in potions who taught Harry’s nemesis, Voldemort, as a boy. Sir Michael Gambon’s Dumbledore lures Slughorn back to Hogwarts to unlock his memories, in the hope of finding a way for Harry to defeat the Dark Lord. Such emotional clout as Yates’s film possesses comes from these two veteran actors.
– Chud: Yates' visual style has evolved in a massive way since the last film. His Hogwarts is now less about magical moving paintings and stairways that move and more about long corridors and dark passages; these passages reflect the journeys the characters make on their way through puberty.