Review: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Confession time: I've burned off the brain cells where I once stored my Harry Potter knowledge. Granted, given that I'm a thirtysomething gay man who categorizes the age of anyone under around 20 or so as either "walking" or "crawling", the continuing adventures of the most put-upon little can-do in Hogwarts aren't exactly designed to stick in my particular grey matter.

But even I was shocked at just how little I remembered about the storyline of the sixth novel, which arrives on screens this week. Heck, I'd even forgotten who the titular Half-Blood Prince turns out to be (hint: he wasn't in Purple Rain). But either because or in spite of my fuzziness on the details, I enjoyed the film quite a bit. And while the plucky child-wizard cash cow isn't specifically a horror series, per se, I thought it deserved mention here because of the horrific quality that the franchise has taken on in its later installments ... and no, I'm not just talking about some of the acting. (Emma Watson FTW!)

Much like its equally solid predecessor, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is dark, violent, loaded with startlingly scary images (spells that make people bleed from their skin, zombies, hexings, Maggie Smith in close-up) and on the whole a pretty big downer - and not just because of the Very Bad Thing that we all already know closes the chapter. Although the film is quite an investment (it clocks in at over two and a half hours), it's an impressive and troubling work, boasting a dark and nightmarish undertow that many more "adult" or "legitimate" films attempt but fail to achieve.

This installment also has an epic quality that the series hadn't achieved to this point. Everything seems grander, more urgent and as profound as a mythology that features chocolate frogs and obsessive-compulsive elves has any right to be. Much as the characters' relationships mature significantly in this installment (including two important central romances), their awareness of their own mortality seems to have really hit home at last ... which is no small feat considering that they've all cheated death about a dozen times apiece already.

At this point the series is pretty much critic-proof, so it's all the more exciting that the producers are continuing to challenge themselves and their audiences with these characters and stories. Really, go back and watch the first two movies after you see this one and you'll wonder that they're even related.

The tone here is pervasively somber (much time is devoted to the moral fall of Draco Malfoy, who is finally explored as a deeply tormented person and not just a one-note schoolyard bully), the production values are stellar (there are huge scenes of widespread disaster and panic), and the emphasis on loss (of innocence, of loved ones, of the good fight) is consistent and deeply disturbing.

Freddie Stroman plays Cormac McLaggen

It's also a fairly fun and satisfying ride, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to myself that it's a lot easier to enjoy these films now that most of the supporting cast is in their twenties and kind of hot (Cormac McLaggen, CALL ME!). And a beloved character is finally given a moment of pure majesty that will likely affect fans very deeply (I know it's going to be a lasting image for me).

In all, Half-Blood stands up alongside The Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Pheonix as challenging, visionary mainstream entertainment that more than lives up to the fan fervor, merchandise and Value Meal-ing surrounding it. While you probably won't walk out of the theater with a smile on your face, you won't be cursing the ticket price, either.