Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Genre: fantasy/adventure

Director: David Yates

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Tom Felton

Showing at Jai Nepal

KATHMANDU:It’s about magic, not just the one that keeps us in awe, things and people appearing out of thin air or just the darkest spell Avara Kedavra, but also about the magic of friendship, magic of sacrifice and magic of courage. The sixth instalment of the Harry Potter series takes off in a more serious and ‘grown-up’ note mixing love and romance with the scarier parts like the rise of Lord Voldemort and the havoc death eaters are creating in the muggle (non-magic people) world. And like it is said ‘with great power comes great responsibility’, the responsibility does not just fall on 16-year-old Harry’s shoulders to find the secrets of Tom

Riddle aka Dark Lord Voldemort,

but also on the shoulders of the director of the movie David Yates, who had to compile the book filled with shocking revelation and unveiling of long lost secrets along with the hormonal changes the teenaged wizards and witches are going through.

The story begins with Professor Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) taking Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) to visit Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) to lure him back to teach at Hogwart again. Slughorn, who has a weakness for collecting ‘trophy students’ (who are popular and in influential posts), is tempted to join the school yet again after meeting Harry. Dumbledore is on the mission of unfolding the secrets of Dark Lord and what makes him invincible. On the other hand Hogwart students are at this very awkward age of bubbling love stories taking place right, left and centre and people falling in and out of love and infatuation. Darco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is working on something big on the sly to help Lord Voldemort in his evil plans. As the story unfolds, one realises Slughorn is invited to Hogwarts not just to teach Potions but because he has information that might help to bring down the Dark Lord.

Unlike Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix, this movie does not disappoint Potter fans as Yates has presented the movie in the best way possible. To say the movie is as good as the book would be over the top, but the presentation is commendable in a cinematic way. The grandeur of the sets is awesome and so is the story telling as the screen play by Steve Kloves covers the story presenting details of important incidents and weaving trivial parts together making it a smooth run.

The young actors who started their career as the popular wizards and witches seems to have come a long way as they have given various shades to their characters. After watching the movie end with more secrets to be unfolded, everyone will be waiting for the final instalment to hit the screen.

All in all, a must watch if you’ve lived in the magic world with Potter or just want to experience magic on screen.