For the sixth film, the series took a slightly lighter tone for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, otherwise known as the one where everyone's hormones went into overdrive. As the last Harry Potter film before the two part finale, it also went to some surprisingly dark places, especially towards the end of the film.
As Harry is getting ready to enter his sixth year at Hogwarts, he is recruited by Dumbledore (played by Michael Gambon) to help him recruit a former Potions teacher, Horace Slughorn (played by Jim Broadbent), to return to teach at Hogwarts. Once they are successful, Dumbledore reveals to Harry why it was so important that Slughorn return. Slughorn contains a vital memory that is the key to how Voldemort was able to survive death and return. Dumbledore needs to know what that is so they can defeat the Dark Lord once and for all and thinks Harry will be the key in retrieving that knowledge from a very hesitant Slughorn. Meanwhile, life continues on at Hogwarts as our characters continue to grow and mature and begin to start pairing off with one another and with this being a school of magic, love potions get involved. Harry also finds an old Potions textbook that is inscribed as belonging to the Half Blood Prince. Harry and Hermoine (played by Emma Watson) find the book quite intriguing, especially since the notes in the book are allowing Harry to excel in Potions class for the first time, much to the chagrin of the studious Hermoine. There is also the ever increasing threat of Voldemort as he recruits more followers, inching ever closer to that inevitable final confrontation.
David Yates returned as director for this film and seems to have a firmer grasp on the material with this outing as well. It also helps that we have Steve Kloves back writing the screenplay after sitting out the previous film. This entry has always been an interesting one to me because for large chunks of the film, it's actually pretty damn funny, from the early interactions between Dumbledore and Slughorn to Ron Weasley (played by Rupert Grint) on a love potion and Daniel Radcliffe showing his prowess for comedy with his time on a "Liquid Luck" potion in a last ditch attempt to get the needed info from Slughorn. But Yates and Kloves manage to balance the lighter elements with the darker ones, including the entire last quarter of the film, as well as a subplot with a tormented Draco Malfoy (played by Tom Felton), who has a secret mission of his own on behalf of Voldemort.
As always, the acting is great all around and this entry is no exception. Michael Gambon continues to make for an intriguing and interesting Albus Dumbledore. I haven't really delved into Gambon's portrayal of the Hogwarts headmaster and I suppose this would be a good place to do so. What I liked so much about Gambon's portrayal was that behind the old wise wizard, you got the sense that there was some darkness in his past, some regrets and Gambon was able to make that shine through in his performance. Also, with this film being the first to come out since J.K Rowling outed Dumbledore as gay, I noticed that Gambon's performance became ever so slightly campier, which I adored to be honest. I also have to single out Tom Felton this time around. For the bulk of the series he was always the stereotypical antagonist for Harry, Ron and Hermoine and wasn't given much to work with beyond that (although he quietly stole damn near every scene he was in in the second film). However, he has a few more meatier moments in the film as you get the sense of the inner turmoil of the character as his antagonized relationship with Harry comes to a head, as well as the mission he's on for Voldemort doesn't seem to be something Malfoy is 100% on board with.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is another strong entry in the series and is a solid adaptation of the source novel, while also standing on it's own. It's one that I have always enjoyed since I first saw it in the theatre when it came out. It also nicely leads everything into the two part finale as the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort draws ever closer.
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