Random Acts of Mind by Dones

Bottom Line: The best Harry Potter film yet.

**Note: If you want to remain totally spoiler-free before you watch the film (or read the book), please note this review does contain what I would call significant spoilers. It’s also safe to assume any comments may contain spoilers**

Half-Blood Prince

When I read this book, I wasn’t terribly impressed (until the end), and it didn’t become my favorite book of the series, unlike each previous volume that preceded it. In the theaters, however, it was the fifth installment that failed to surpass the previous one in my estimation. Book Five remains my favorite of the series, yet the film version paled in comparison (while remaining an acceptable filmed version of the book. Film Six, however, restores my faith in director David Yates’ ability to finish out the series.

In this film we have the much-anticipated relationships coming to fruition between Ron & Hermione and Harry & Ginny. This was exposited superbly well, though some critics may complain that it takes up too much screen time. I see their point, but disagree: this is what fans like me want to see, it moves the story along nicely, and the lightheartedness of this lifted the film’s mood from its inevitably dark nadirs.

Enough of this, and on with the ratings:

Production value: 5/5 stars. The CG was believable, creative, and at the top of the present state of the art. But that’s not what made this film great. I’m going to talk up the cinematography in this film, which provided much of the tension and chill factor to the darker scenes. The greenish, desaturated pensieve scenes were mirrored by the almost black-and-white final scenes, and the whole sense of creepiness that followed each scene was sublime.  The angles chosen for many shots were spot-on based on the desired feel of the scene.

Story: 5/5 stars. It’s been a while since I read the book, but there was nothing glaringly missing in the transition from book to film. Especially wonderful was how Yates did on film what Rowling did in print, especially in the dialogue-free narratives about Draco Malfoy’s secret project; though where Rowlling mercilessly teased the reader with the mystery of Malfoy’s actions, Yates depicted each last bit of Malfoy’s plan in chronological order with the rest of the story, an artistic choice that pays off very well. The filmed version of these events were far less confusing and appeared far more central to the plot of the movie, as opposed to it being almost a sidebar in the book, at least until all was revealed in the end.

Enjoyability: 5/5 stars: At times I was perfectly giddy, along with the characters; at other moments I was chilled to the bone. I loved this movie!

Dones’ Rating: This film was nearly flawless. I won’t even waste space here to nit-pick. This film demonstrates why the books & films are so great!

This entry was posted on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 12:48 am and is filed under Books, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.