Variety has now posted their review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and it contains much praise for the sixth installment in the Harry Potter film series. Noting that director David Yates "displays noticeably increased confidence here, injecting more
real-world grit into what began eight years ago as purest child's fantas," and has made a film that is "film is clear-headed and clean-lined."
The long review notes the physical changes of the cast, but does hand praise to the efforts of the adult cast members in particular making mention of the actor who plays Professor Slughorn, saying "Jim Broadbent, who makes a terrific disguised entrance and is then simply grand as the eccentric old prof." Of note however are remarks about the performance of a critical character in the film.
"It's this chapter in the Potter saga that obliges the always nasty but
ambiguously motivated Severus Snape to show his true colors, and the
indispensable Rickman delivers, as always, with line readings that are
delicacies of the infinitely mordant kind. He is periodically egged on
by the insidious Bellatrix Lestrange, a role Helena Bonham Carter plays
with such mesmerizing abandon that one hopes the role fully pays off in
the final chapter.
Among the always outstanding production values and top-drawer visual
effects, special note should be made of series newcomer Bruno
Delbonnel's exceptionally atmospheric cinematography and Nicholas
Hooper's emotionally churning score, which contains only the slightest
trace of John Williams' original themes.
Awesome! I don’t know what the whole review is like, but at least the parts you quoted are great! Especially since they point out Alan in particular…well, how could they not :)
Michael Gambon might be a good actor be he totally sucks as Dumbledore. Rupert is the most talented among the youngsters. Rickman is an awesome Snape indeed.
I had to laugh at the critic’s corroboration of the crazy canon, viz "the brilliant Hermione unaccountably loves the comparatively slow-witted Ron". I guess anyone who walks out of the movie holding to the view that Hermione’s attraction to Ron is unfathomable will be instructed to "go back and watch it again". :-)
Bonnie Wright’s "plain Jane Ginny" appears to be the complete opposite of her canon counterpart … so yes, a much better chance for the character to ‘grow on us’ this time around!
I think everyone fits their character’s. I think he was giving Bonnie a hard time. In the movies they make her look drab sometimes in her clothing, but in real life she is not plain jane to me.
Also nothing Dan can do about his height. Even he has made it known that he will like to grow more. At least he isn’t the shortest, that goes to Devon Murray. If anything Matthew Lewis and Alfie Enoches left everyone in the dust when it comes to height.
Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter are perfect as Snape and Bellatrix! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing them in the sixth film, especially Spinner’s End!
Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter are TERRIFIC! I just love the cast the way it is, and I’m glad they made the right choices and didn’t make any huge mistakes like Summit Entertainment did with "Twilight"
This certainly should be Rickman’s film in which to shine; Snape is, after all, "The Half-Blood Prince" of the title. Looking forward to a much fuller role for him in this one, and the last (two).
I agree that Alan Rickman totally owns the part of Snape, & I sincerely hope that they give him way more screen time in the last 3 movies than he’s gotten in the first 5. For my money Snape is the most interesting character in the whole series simply because of the brilliant way in which JKR walked the knife-edge of ambiguity with his development. (Not that she totally fooled us all – I take great pride in the fact that I correctly figured out his ulterior motive even before the SWM scene! "Always…") But I disagree about Helena Bonham-Carter being properly cast. I can’t get past the fact that she is WAY too young for the role. If Bellatrix met her husband while a Hogwarts student, she would be close in age to Voldemort himself – mid-60s at the time of our story. So the punk makeup & hair & sexy tattered bondage garb just don’t work for me, somehow.
"How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"
Awesome! I don’t know what the whole review is like, but at least the parts you quoted are great! Especially since they point out Alan in particular…well, how could they not :)