Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price (2009)

Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe

**1/2

I have the luxury of viewing and reviewing the Harry Potter films without the distraction of their loyalty (or lack there of) to the books. It gives me not only a certain freedom to create an independent opinion of the movie but also a freedom of enjoying the old tradition of not know what happens next.

The first two hours of the most recent epic installment of J.K. Rowling's story seemed to do a very good job of laying subtle and intriguing clues as to what will happen come the inevitably extraordinary climax of the film, however as the film progressed, I began to question whether or not these clues, while clinging to their intrigue, may have become too subtle and too infrequent. At one point, I passed this off as me looking too hard for something wrong with the film because for most of it, it played like one of those films that have an ebb and flow so smooth that you're engrossed to the point where you wonder if there is even anything wrong with it.

Of course the film is not perfect and that became more and more evident with each passing scene. Harry, Hermione and Ron have reached the age now where they've begun to have crushes on one another and other fellow classmates at the Hogwarts School of Magic. This is an important progression for the characters to make and for an audience, its entertaining, humorous and relateable. The simple joke of having characters behaving nervously and awkwardly around someone they like got good and consistent laughs throughout the film, (almost to the point where I think I laughed more often than I did during the Hangover, "2009's biggest comedy!") These jokes did reach the point of getting old however, yet still continued. This wouldn't have hurt the film enough to mention had that comedy not been an important element in setting up a pivotal turning point in the movie. By the time the movie got there, I wasn't really laughing at the repetitive jokes anymore.

When the film finally reached its climax it was over before it started. As the movie came to a close, I was still so hoping that all the subtle and intriguing clues I picked up on along the way were going to pay off much better. I, of course, recognize that the story of Harry Potter has yet to conclude and its very likely that director David Yates has brilliant plans for the final installment, however for him to be so meticulous with his setup and then give his audience no credit during the finale and completely shove what's happening right in our face was very unsatisfactory and disappointing.

Even without having read the books and knowing what is or isn't included in the film, I recognize how difficult it must be to craft a film that covers enough of the important aspects while still keeping it at a watchable length but I can't help but wonder if Yates spent too much time on the Harry Potter part of the title and not enough on the Half Blood Price part. We got a good look at the way Harry's social life is progressing, but that dark magic, the danger, the intrigue that makes Harry so special was somewhat absent throughout. It did, however, set me up for one thing... I want to know what will happen next.