Thursday, July 16, 2009

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Harry Potter movies face an imposing task. In order to be truly successful, they must satisfy the faithful with their knowledge of the most inconsequential details, retell the story for those who've read the books but forgotten, and present a stand-alone experience for those who haven't read the books (yes, they do exist).

Because I fall in the middle group, it's difficult for me to assess how successful the sixth movie is at accomplishing all of those goals. But, speaking for my constituency, the movie performed admirably. The movie has an overall more ominous tone (these are not the more carefree days of yore) and yet still manages to inject humor and charm. The scene where Ron is under the spell of the love potion is pure frivolity.

Rachel and I both remarked that we're glad we've already read the seventh book, in that we have some insight into where things are headed. But it would also have been interesting to have experienced the movie without that knowledge.

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