IN 2002, Wim van Hanegem, assistant coach of the Dutch national soccer team, was asked who he was going to vote for in the upcoming general election. Van Hanegem replied that he had little interest in politics, but his children liked Harry Potter, and the Christian Democrats leader Jan Peter Balkenende looked like Harry Potter. Therefore, his vote would be going to them.A few weeks later, Balkenende became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, a position he has held ever since. Harry Potter, meanwhile, has continued his world domination. Seven books and six films later, JK Rowling’s creation is more popular than ever.
It was, then, with a certain amount of trepidation that your correspondent made his way to ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’. You see (whisper it): I had never seen a Harry Potter movie in its entirety before.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I had given the previous five a go and felt the need to walk out. It’s just that the pictures have become staples of Christmas TV schedules, when cake, presents and soccer tend to get in the way. Glimpses here and there, yes; a rough idea of who’s who, check. But a credits-to-credits few hours spent in the company of the boy in the specs, nope. I was, to all intents and purposes, a novice.
One glance at the packed theatre, and the cries of ‘Ha-rry! Ha-rry!’ that greeted lights down, suggested my ignorance put me in a tiny minority. This was a long-awaited event for a great many people.
The opening is spectacular – a group of Death-eaters (great name, that) swoop down on London and a bridge topples over. A house is put back together with a style not seen since Mary Poppins was in her prime. The effects, the set and the look are all first class, and it seems anyone who’s anyone in British cinema is along for the ride. Alan Rickman is the pick of the bunch as the sinister Snape, while Michael Gambon (who stepped into Richard Harris’s shoes to play Dumbledore) sports the longest beard seen by a mass audience since ZZ Top were packing them out.
There’s some decent humour, some of it provided by Louth’s Evanna Lynch – who plays Luna Lovegood – but there’s also a real darkness to much of the story. A clever flashback device makes an appearance, and there are two memorable scenes involving quidditch (airborne hockey, to this untrained eye). There is also, not unsurprisingly, a bit of magic. But not as much as you might expect.
And this is my main gripe with ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ – considering it’s about a magician, a lot of the narrative is taken up with issues you can see examined in any teen drama. We have hormones on parade and love triangles to beat the band – nothing wrong with that, but isn’t that’s what we have ‘Home and Away’ for?
A few of the all-star cast phone in their performances, and of the principals, only Rupert Grint (who plays Ron Weasley) really shines. The flick left at least one newcomer to the franchise cold. “That was my first and last Harry Potter film,” he announced to all and sundry on the way out.
That’s not the case for me. I was sufficiently impressed to look forward to Harry’s two remaining outings on the silver screen (the final book is being cut in half for celluloid purposes). I might even catch up on the others in the meantime. How long is it to Christmas again?
http://rapidshare.com/files/261011610/hari_boy_TS.XVID-Lynks.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/261011557/hari_boy_TS.XVID-Lynks.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/261011842/hari_boy_TS.XVID-Lynks.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/261013723/hari_boy_TS.XVID-Lynks.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/261013480/hari_boy_TS.XVID-Lynks.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/261013436/hari_boy_TS.XVID-Lynks.part6.rar
No comments:
Post a Comment