Review #769: 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (2009)

Defiantly avoiding the familiar sign-posts of the early Harry Potter movies (Harry's troubles with the Dursley's, the journey to Hogwarts, meeting the new Defence Against the Dark Arts), returning director David Yates and the franchise in general has firmly settled into it's dark, brooding persona. The trouble is, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his ever-present shadows Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) have developed into one-dimensional bores. Thankfully, The Half-Blood Prince is rich in snivelling villains and wise old wizards and witches, all portrayed by an embarrassingly rich line-up of British thesps, who liven up the proceedings somewhat and add that much-needed gravitas.

It's a cast so crammed with talent that the likes of two-time Oscar-winner Maggie Smith is reduced to a walk-on part. But the film is plagued by a lack of proper pacing, and Yates has trouble keeping a grip on the mixture of drama, comedy and action. Certain scenes that were utterly gripping in J.K. Rowling's novel whizz by without you realising what just happened, confusing the thick plot to the point that any audience members unfamiliar to the books, and have waited two years between the movie instalments, might be left scratching their heads at the mention of Horcruxes and Vanishing Cabinets. This time around, Harry and Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) partner up to gain information from new teacher Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent).

Seeking to destroy Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) once and for all, Dumbledore's biggest clue lies in a memory tampered with by it's owner, Slughorn. It's a conversation between him and a young Voldemort, Tom Riddle (Frank Dillane - son of Stephen), discussing a dark magic that Dumbledore believes to be the key to Voldemort's immortality. Harry is given the task to appeal to Slughorn's love of celebrity and reveal his secrets, and impresses the bumbling teacher in his Potions class after discovering a textbook marked with alterations by the mysterious 'half-blood prince'. But Harry also believes nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has been made a Death Eater and is up to no good, much to the scepticism of Ron and Hermione.

It's the best book of the series, in my opinion, and it's a shame that screenwriter Steve Kloves, who has written every Potter apart from Order of the Phoenix and has always done an excellent adapting the hefty books, can't quite get this one right. The moments in which Harry delves inside the Pensive, an apparatus that allows one to physically enter a memory, are impressive. We finally get some insight into the past, and the two young actors playing Tom Riddle (as well as Dillane, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, nephew of Ralph, plays an 11 year-old incarnation) are excellent, showing us a younger, curious dark lord. But it isn't enough to stop the film feeling like it's dragging out the franchise that made many people millions of dollars, or allowing me to forgive the many narrative flaws and many moments of plain rushed storytelling.


Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #768: 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' (2007)

Back in 2007, with the impending arrival of J.K. Rowling's seventh and final instalment novel and this, the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pottermania was at astronomical levels. A director new to the franchise was introduced, David Yates, who seemed a shrewd choice given his track record in British TV, but in hindsight, his inexperience with blockbusters proved slightly harmful to the franchise. It became difficult to cram Rowling's increasingly sprawling novels into a two hour-plus film, and Yates (along with fellow newcomer Michael Goldenberg penning the script), struggled to juggle the emotional drama so delicately handled by Cuaron and Newell before him, along with the CGI-heavy action.

With the horrors he witnessed at the climax of Goblet of Fire still lingering in his mind, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself returning to a wizarding world in denial. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), refuses to believe the Dark Lord has returned, and half the pupils at Hogwarts accuse Harry of being an attention-seeker. Even Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), who has always protected Harry, seems to ignore him. Only his close friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), and the strange new pupil Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), stick by him inside school. Outside, Harry is encouraged by his surrogate father Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who is part of the Order of the Phoenix, a small group of wizards preparing the upcoming war with Voldemort.

Everything about Order of the Phoenix is suitably grim. The opening scene in which Harry and his repulsive muggle cousin Dudley (Harry Melling) meet a couple of hungry Dementors, shows Harry's world as dry, cracked and grim. It suits Harry mood, with his first experience of witnessing death still haunting him, and the frustration of being ignored making him quick to anger. Hogwarts is also no longer a safe retreat for the pupils, as the introduction of Ministry of Magic worker Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) sees the school of wizardry infiltrated, and Voldemort's true aims become clearer.

The politics were more carefully laid out in the novel, and it's here that Yates stumbles. Umbridge's fascist approach is clear as day, to the point of making Harry write lines that scratch into his skin, but the effect it has on the changing attitudes towards 'mudbloods' such as Hermione (wizards born out of non-magical parents) and half-breeds like the formidable centaurs lurking in the forest, is all but ignored. The climax at the Ministry of Magic, which sees Harry and Voldemort both seeking a prophecy, is messy, as it was in the book. It works well when focusing on Harry and his demons, and Radcliffe again performs well, but integrating them with the enormous ensemble and the overarching story is where it falls flat.


Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Imelda Staunton, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Isaacs
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #767: 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' (2005)

As we all remember, turning 14 comes with as many strange new emotions as it does the need to rebel against everything resembling authority, and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), fresh off his experiences battling ghostly Dementors and a werewolf, faces a brand new threat - women. Goblet of Fire, with a new director in Mike Newell, continues Alfonso Cuaron's darker and and more sinister tone, pitching Harry against a whole new range of beasts and dark wizards, but it's the section around the middle of the film - where Harry and his ever-present friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) must find dates and attend formal dance the Yule Ball - that delights the most and brings the very best out of it's still-young actors.

After a Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup that leaves the 'Dark Mark' - the sigil of Lord Voldemort's followers - lighting up the smoky sky, Harry returns to Hogwarts for another year. This year however, they are being joined by overseas schools Beauxbatons of France, and Durmstrang of Bulgaria, as Hogwarts is playing host to the Triwizard Tournament, a collection of dangerous feats that pitches one pupil from each school against each other for the prize. After the champions are selected - Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy) for Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) for Durmstrang, and Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) for Hogwarts - a fourth name is spat out - Harry Potter.

Harry swears to Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) that he did not cheat and enter his own name (as he's underage), and, being bound by a magical contract, the schools have no option but to allow him to compete. New Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher 'Mad-Eye' Moody (Brendan Gleeson) - a half-crazed ex-Auror with one magical eye that is independent of his other and which can see through the back of his own head - sets about preparing Harry for the perilous tournament. He must face dragons, sea-monsters and a seemingly endless maze to find the prize, but where Harry is, the threat of Lord Voldemort's return is always lurking.

Mike Newell and returning screenwriter Steve Kloves do an excellent job in condensing a mammoth book (about twice as large as Prisoner of Azkaban) into a coherent film. For a film so rich in action and whizz-bang CGI, it thankfully doesn't neglect the drama. Harry's friendship with Ron and Hermione is stretched, with hormones and jealousy creeping into Ron's personality, and Hermione's struggle to deal with the idiot. But it's hardly melodrama, and the Yule Ball provides the most amusing set-piece in the series, and a welcome distraction from the darkness that lurks outside.

It's the point in the series where disarming spells and defensive tricks start to prove ineffective, and people begin to die. The opening scene, which depicts an elderly muggle (played by Eric Sykes) stumbling upon Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall) and an undeveloped Voldemort, sees the first time the dreaded killing curse is used, and therefore sets the tone. It's also bookmarked by a thrilling climax in which (spoilers!) Voldemort finally returns in the form of a noseless Ralph Fiennes, who puts in a suitably creepy performance. It doesn't beat Azkaban as the series best entry, it's far too long and sometimes rushed for that, but it's certainly the most entertaining.


Directed by: Mike Newell
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, David Tennant
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #766: 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' (2004)

With Chris Columbus abdicating at the sight of dark material, the Harry Potter was gratefully gobbled up by Alfonso Cuaron, a director having only at that point turned heads with the incredibly sexy Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001). This is a vastly different Potter to that which came before. When his dead parents are insulted by an obnoxious aunt (Pam Ferris), Harry blows her out of the window, kicking his bedroom cupboard in a rage. There's no plinky-plonky music or pie-in-the-face sight gags, and when Harry steps outside of his house, the streets are grey and grim, not a cosy suburban horror show.

After fleeing another run-in with the Dursleys, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) hops on the Knight Bus, which takes him to the Leaky Cauldron where he is to learn his fate having used magic outside of Hogwarts. Best friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are there waiting for him, when they all learn that convicted serial killer Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from notorious prison Azkaban, possibly with Harry in his sights. With the ghostly guardians of Azkaban, the Dementors, surrounding Hogwarts in search of Black, Harry finds his own life in danger, and seeks help from new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and friend of his parents, Professor Lupin (David Thewlis).

With Columbus's kid-friendly approach ditched and Cuaron's more focused direction, the franchise at this point could finally be taken seriously, with real threats finally entering Harry's life, and the trio's characters hitting puberty and becoming more feisty in the process. Cuaron also wisely adapted the book, rather than simply filming the pages, and this is noticeably shorter than it's predecessors despite being the biggest book at this point. Hermione is less precocious, Ron is less gurny, and Daniel Radcliffe finally puts in a decent performance. He isn't perfect, but there's a delightful eccentricity to the actor's mannerisms which make him endearing to watch.

Apart from a climax that makes as little sense as it does in the novel, the story is also more gripping. We finally see Harry's past intertwine with his present, with revelations coming out of the woodwork, and Harry finally starting to learn more about his parents. There's also some genuinely frightening scenes, including the Dementors - hooded, faceless ghouls - and a scene involving a certain character's dangerous affliction. In Cuaron's hands, Harry Potter is genuinely magic, funny when it should be, dark when it needs to be, and it's rather disappointing he didn't go on to direct more of them.


Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon, David Thewlis, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Timothy Spall
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #765: 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' (2002)

Director Chris Columbus, responsible for popular cuddly, family-friendly movies such as Home Alone (1990) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), here makes his second, and thankfully last, entry into the Harry Potter franchise. The series needed to go way darker after Chamber of Secrets, and did, and this film marked the ending of the bright, and non-threatening, adventures for Harry and co. It's also the last time Potter the film so painstakingly stuck to Harry the book, and here everything that should have been cut in fact remains. Due to this, and the exhausting running time, Chamber of Secrets is the worst of all 8 films.

Still stuck with his horrible adoptive parents (Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw) for the summer while he awaits another year at his beloved Hogwarts, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is visited by house-elf Dobby (voiced by Toby Jones), who warns him that he must not return to the school of wizardry this year. He finds his efforts to catch the Hogwarts Express scuppered, and instead must travel by flying car with his daft friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint). When he does arrive, students begin to turn up petrified (literally), with whispers of the mythical Chamber of Secrets being re-opened and unleashing a terrifying monster into the school.

While the first film needed to spend time on developing the world that J.K. Rowling so beautifully imagined and the colourful characters who inhabit it, Chamber of Secrets has no such baggage. Yet Columbus, along with screenwriter Steve Kloves, have done little other than simply film the images millions of fans already have imprinted in their mind. We seem to slog through every second of Harry's second year at Hogwarts, with little thought having been given to the humour and charm that seemed to spatter every paragraph in the engrossing novels.

Instead, we get special-effects aplenty, with long periods dedicated to a flying car with a mind of it's own, some hungry spiders in the forest, and a Quidditch match that does little that the first film didn't do already. Rowling's books are so recognisably British, with old eccentrics who all seem to have Monty Python-silly senses of humour, and that feeling of the characters all sitting near a comforting roaring fire. Even though Columbus have upheld Rowling's demand for an all-British cast, everything in the film seems fat and Americanised, all CGI and no heart, so far removed from Britain that I almost expected Steve Martin or Robin Williams to walk in.

There are a few saving graces, namely the stellar cast of adults, all returning from the first film. It also introduces Kenneth Branagh as celebrity wizard and new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart, and Jason Isaacs as the father of Harry's arch-nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). They chew on their scenes, helping save the still-struggling Radcliffe and Emma Watson (who would get better as the films progressed). It also marked the sad passing of Richard Harris, here appearing for the final time as Dumbeldore, before being replaced by Michael Gambon in the role. But a few decent performances cannot save this bloated, sickly film from feeling stretched and an hour too long.


Directed by: Chris Columbus
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Kenneth Branagh, Jason Isaacs
Country: USA/UK/Germany

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #764: 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' (2001)

With billions upon billions of pounds in revenue generated from book sales, film adaptations and all other mediums, and with the hysteria surrounding the series now all but gone, it seemed the perfect time to re-visit the Harry Potter film franchise. I'll state outright that I'm a fan of the books: they are hardly ground-breaking pieces of literature, but they are a meticulously crafted and widely imaginative set of novels, maturing with it's progression and with the age of it's characters and readers. The movie adaptations were consistently average, fiercely loyal to J.K. Rowling's prose but always somewhat lacking in substance.

Shut away in the cupboard under the stairs by his adoptive parents (Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw), 11 year-old Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) lives an unhappy life. But there's something different about him, as he learns when he talks to a snake at a zoo and makes the protective glass disappear, causing his vile cousin Dudley Dursley (Harry Melling) to fall into the tank. His life changes when he is invited to enroll at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The invitations are burned by the Dursleys, and they go to great lengths to stop him going to a place that will teach him magic, until he is rescued by a hairy giant named Reubus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane).

When introduced into the magical world with Hagrid, Harry learns that he is famous. His parents were killed by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort (generally referred to as You-Know-Who), but Harry survived the attack, seemingly killing Voldemort and inflicting Harry with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. When he gets to Hogwarts, he is befriended by the bumbling Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and the precocious Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and the three are quickly embroiled in a plot involving murdered unicorns, a mysterious artefact known as the philosopher's stone, and a giant three-headed dog.

Philosopher's Stone is almost defiantly faithful to the books. Sure, lines are altered here, and minor characters are snipped out there, but this is as close as literally 'bringing a book to life' gets. Yet while this works in it's favour in terms of visualising Rowling's creations, it doesn't even try to develop any ideas of it's own that would have only worked in a visual medium. Much of Rowling's silly and charming sense of humour is lost in simply filming whatever happens on the pages. One of the main criticism's I have for the books is that a lot of the major characters are little more than archetypes, so a lot rested on the three young leads' shoulders in making us interested enough to stick with them.

Sadly, two of the three fall rather flat, with only the gurning and hang-dog Rupert Grint showing a natural gift for appearing on the big screen. Potter is a simple enough character anyway, at least he is at this point of the story, shy, naive but brave, but Radcliffe gives an incredibly one-note performance, encapsulated in the scene in which he discovers he can perform magic. "I'm a... wizard?" he says, lacking anything resembling a facial expression. Watson also struggles to bring much likeability to her self-satisfied bookworm, her eyebrows constantly rising and falling as she struggles to perform her lines with any conviction.

For the rest of the cast, director Chris Columbus has rounded up a smorgasbord of British and Irish talent, a collection of well-trained thespians who steal the entire film from it's leads. Richard Harris plays Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts' headmaster, Maggie Smith is Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor, the house Harry is chosen for, Alan Rickman is Professor Snape, Harry's greasy-haired Potions teacher, and John Hurt makes a small appearance as a wand-maker. Coltrane probably steals the film as the beast-loving grounds-keeper Hagrid. It's an amazing line-up that would consistently grow both in talent and in numbers as the films progressed.

Ultimately, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a success, weaving an interesting enough story about the possible return of the dark lord Voldemort, with Harry's wide-eyed introduction to the world of hocus pocus. John Williams' Oscar-nominated and now widely recognisable score captures some of the giddy movie magic of early Spielberg, and the attention to detail is often remarkable. But like the book, it ultimately suffers from being too kid-friendly, spoon-feeding lessons in morality without giving much for adults to chew on. It's little more than a well-told children's story, something that would change as the novels became darker and more complex, but at this point, it's a gentle introduction to a captivating world.


Directed by: Chris Columbus
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Ian Hart, John Hurt, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie