Hurried Potter and the Half-Baked Film.

Six things about the sixth Harry Potter film. And some quibbles.

1. Steiner said of Chapman’s English in the Whole Works of Homer that it was “…spendthrift, inebriate with waste motion”. What he calls waste I call luxury, and Rowling write luxuriously and luxuriantly, embellishing with details that may be trivial but serve to bring the books to life. In cutting these inebriating and majestic motions out the director has dissolved the cement out of the bricks, as it were, and the result is shabby. Instead of the flow of narrative that we have come to associate with both the books and the films, there is instead a patchwork of scenes only barely following one from the other, held by fragile threads of misdirected editorial enthusiasm. The leisurely details that made the films so enjoyable and so in tune with the mood of the books – think Cuarón’s Hippogriff dipping its talon in the Great Lake – are missing. A viewer who hasn’t read the books will leave the hall without plot or clue, and those who have will leave it shaking their heads at being shown only half a film. There is a reason why the three Lord of the Rings films were so long. Some subjects deserve the treatment, and without it, they are a puzzle with the pieces missing.

2. The book (and the film) is named Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which amounts to Harry Potter and Severus Snape. No one could have walked away with the impression that Azkaban wasn’t as much about the Prisoner of Azkaban as it was about Harry Potter. From the posters to every tense moment of the film, this character cast a doggedly serious, black shadow over every minute. On the other hand, the reference to Snape in this film seems… perfunctory at best. Like they put the name on the Potions book because they had to, and as an afterthought. Snape’s final unveiling of his alter ego is sapped of all its drama. You could hear him say, ‘BTW, I’m the Half-Blood Prince, KTHNXBAI.’ After all, the film barely builds up on the mystery. Alan Rickman is a fantastic actor, and his moment has been stolen by lacklustre scripting. The core plot device thus been made to seem little more than a diversion, and a needless, pathetic one at that.

3. Ah, to be young and feel the keen sting of love. Harry and Ginny have a few tender, touchingly executed moments, and Ron and Hermione finally get a little closer to realising their feelings for one another. The Harry-Ron-Hermione banter, Harry’s apprehensive manners, Ron’s (cow)boyish straightforwardness, Hermione’s occasional annoyance with outbreaks of a very girlie girl are all there. Bonnie Wright (Ginny) in particular deserves a standing ovation for being in the limelight without taking it away from the Big Three. Lavender Brown is a character that carries the risk of overacting, but Jessie Cave played it with control and conviction, though with a helping of screen time that is perhaps too generous for a minor character.

Shame there wasn’t more of Luna Lovegood, though. She’s my favourite. I like the fact that she’s batshit crazy, but in a good way.

4. Special effects. I’m just shallow enough to admit they matter to me. Hell, I love them. Of course, they aren’t everything, but it takes a lot to make a Harry Potter fan sit up and take notice after a steady diet of Quidditch. The highlights this time are the opening sequence done in IMAX 3D (the Millennium Bridge gets trashed, and the sensation of flying is very realistic), Dumbledore playing with fire in Voldemort’s cave, and the awesome scene outside the cave as Dumbledore and Harry stand on a sheer island of rock buffeted by a billowing sea on all sides. Truly, a magnificent feast for the eyes.

5. This film’s purpose is to set the stage for the seventh one (which, thankfully, will be made in two parts). That it does, to some extent. On one hand there is the disinterested checklist nature of this film I can’t quite get over (Dumbledore dead – check. Malfoy’s vanishing cabinet – check.) On the other, there are hints of better things to come. In particular, all three of the Deathly Hallows were shown on-screen, and many beloved actors who have had little to do this time have major roles in the next instalment – Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, David Thewlis as Remus Lupin. Oh and, Dobby.

6. Finally, a list of memorable scenes –

- Hermione casting a spell on Cormac while pretending to hide a cough.

- Ron falling backwards over a sofa.

- Hermione hitting Ron.

- Hermione hitting Harry.

- Hermione hitting Draco (okay, wrong film, but it was a great scene).

- McGonagall telling Harry to take Ron to Potions because he seems ‘too happy’.

- Dumbledore telling Harry he needs to shave.

- Slughorn reminiscing about the fish he got from Lily.

PS. Quibbles – Aragog was much larger in Chamber, and the labels in the Marauder’s Map used to be more ornate with a scroll around the name. Times of magical stringency, or was this one printed by IKEA?