Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
"As Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, he discovers an old book marked as "the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past."
- IMDB
Well.... Half-Blood Prince is my least favorite Potter film.. Actually 2nd least favorite really. It just seems like there's an emphasis on the rom-com part of the story rather than a better balance of this and the mystery-of-Tom-Riddle part of the story. I absolutely loved the book for this reason as the book was able to take enough time to really flesh out Tom Riddle and his life while also letting Harry spend time as a student at Hogwarts for a final year and be engulfed in the cringey rom-com dynamics of his peers. The movie was a rough adaption of this and I don't enjoy it as much as the other movies.
Though even the worst Potter films have their moments. I loved the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes segment. This was the twins' destiny. I do prefer the change to have Luna find Harry on the train. This was honestly Luna's most iconic scene - from the outfit, to the glasses, the dialogue. It was a nice couple scenes with her. And I loved when Harry invited her to the Christmas party. I agree, she is indeed someone cool. And I will admit, this is definitely one of the funnier installments. The Felicis Harry sequence alone is the most hilarious part of the entire series.
In terms of cast and crew, there weren't too many changes from Order of the Phoenix. Helen McCory joined the cast as Narcissa Malfoy. Jim Broadbent was introduced as the new Potions teacher - Horace Slughorn. And shout out to Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Frank Dillane who both did great jobs portraying young Tom Riddle.
Snape killed Dumbledore!!! Gasp, I swear this was the birth of spoiler alerts. This story makes me a bit sad in some ways. It's Harry's final year at Hogwarts and is the beginning of the end of the series. And pretty much everything about Dumbledore, Snape, and Draco makes me sad too. Though the story and the humor is pretty solid. Out of the 11 Wizarding World films out right now I'd place the film at #9, and maybe #5 out of the book series. I appreciate it for what it is, bit it's just not one of my favorites.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
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