Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

One of the many great joys of watching the sixth, and most deeply satisfying, installment in the HARRY POTTER film series is watching returning director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves beef up characters whose roles (in the movies, at least) have been soundly in the background up to this point. I liked watching members of the Weasley finally be brought to the foreground in anticipation of major contributions from them in the final two-part HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS finale. I was particularly impressed with the way Tom Felton has transformed Draco Malfoy from a sneering bully into a genuine source of tortured menace, worthy of being both feared and pitied. But more than anything, it's great watching every element of the sweeping overall story come together so wonderfully and have the acting by the one-time child performers be able to match the power of the maturing plotlines.

Let me just remind you that after watching the third film, 2004's HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, I decided that I was going to experience the world of HARRY POTTER as a strictly cinematic endeavor and hold off reading the J.K. Rowling novels until all of the films had been released. After watching what was for me (until now) the best entry in the series, I felt the way for me to enjoy these films (or not) would be to not constantly be comparing them to the books. I know there are many fan-favorite moments left out from the novels; it happens. That seemed like a distraction I didn't need. In my mind, the filmed versions of these stories needed to stand on their own. Thankfully, with minor exceptions here and there, I've found the entire series to be an exceedingly fulfilling pursuit. And while I have loved playing “Spot the Talented Veteran British Actor” over the course of the works, I've really grown to love the younger characters and their trials.

It should come as no surprise that great sections of THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE are about sex, which is one of the many reasons I'm surprised this film still managed to secure a PG rating. Rising attraction between the boys and girls was alluded to in the last film, but here, you can almost see the condom in every male character’s pocket. And Ron Weasley is the biggest horn dog any PG-rated film has ever seen. Not to mention that the young girls are practically throwing themselves at Harry because of his possible status as "The Chosen One." And Hermione Granger is acting just like a young woman whose hormones are in an uproar over a guy she not only believes she can't have but can't believe she's fallen for in the first place. In one scene, Harry and Ron are lying in bed in their shared room talking about girls they like; you can almost sense the semi-stiffies under their respective covers. It's weird, but it seems absolutely authentic at the same time.

Each new HARRY POTTER story gives us at least one new teacher, and in this film we may have the greatest addition of all, Jim Broadbent as Professor Horace Slughorn, the new potions instructor returning to Hogwarts after an extended absence. Since little in the POTTER world is unconnected, it should come as no surprise that Slughorn's past is tied to that of a young boy named Tom Riddle, who will grow to become Lord Voldemort. Harry and Prof. Dumbledore (a thankfully beefed up role for Michael Gambon) spend a great deal of time together watching memories of Riddle as a child, first meeting a younger version of the headmaster years earlier and then being taught a secret spell by Slughorn that forever changes the fate of many characters. I'd been told that huge sections of The Half-Blood Prince novel were devoted to flashbacks, and while we do get a few in the film, it never struck me that the story dwelled too much in the past to make me miss the present. And Broadbent is one of those exceptional actors that I truly could watch in anything and enjoy the experience that much more because of him. He’s the embodiment of nervous guilt, and his twitchy behavior kept me in as much suspense as any more overtly scary moment in THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE.

While I’m calling out actors, let me mention Alan Rickman just because I can. This is maybe only the second of the HARRY POTTER films where I’ve really felt the weight of his character fully utilized. I realize the films are following the lead of the books, but I literally crave more Rickman every time I watch these movies. He’s all over this one, and he’s doing things that appear on the surface to be not very admirable or good, but I’ve always known that of all the instructors at Hogwarts, he held the deepest secrets. As someone who is strictly going by the movies, he’s always been my favorite character, and I can’t wait to see where his storyline goes.

In an exquisite way, the film ties together and draws parallels between the twisted and churning emotions raging through the young characters on a daily basis and the Riddle flashbacks, showing us a version of the child-who-would-be-Voldemort at about the same age as our heroes are in the present. The lesson is that these beings of pure emotion have chosen to either harness their feelings for good or allow the let them run unchecked and turn them into something terrible. Even more remarkable is the film’s ability to make me reconsider so many other aspects of all the previous films. This latest work actually made me a little angry at the first two HARRY POTTER installments for being too whimsical and action-packed. THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is the story that begins the tying up process, and reminds us that no character’s life is sacred at this stage of the game.

If it sounds like I’m painting THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE as something of a talkative number, that’s because I am and it is, and that’s hardly a bad thing. There’s an enormous amount of exposition going on here, but if you’re even mildly invested in these characters, it’s all wildly interesting. But the focus on relationships and emotion and talking and great acting and the Who’s Who of great British thespians made me realize that this is the best art film I’ve seen this summer, complete with some of the best camera work you’re likely to see all year thanks to the masterful French director of photography Bruno Delbonnel. More than that, much like the books, the films have gone well beyond being simply kids’ stories and moves them into the realm of fine, rich storytelling the likes of which you just don’t get in a typical large-budget summer film. I’m always crowing about how big films lack character development, but THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE has enough of that for six movies, and I was still itching for more at the end of the films 150-minute-plus running time.

I was also especially impressed with how the extended scenes between Dumbledore and Harry are handled. The line that I continue to think about is Dumbledore saying, “I’m afraid I must ask too much of you again, Harry” before an especially dangerous mission the two embark on together. He appears to be the kindly, protective grandfather type, but he also sees Harry as a weapon against the Dark Lord and he will wield him as often as he must. The layers and complexity of their relationship are their epic high point in this installment.

Honestly, I have no complaints about this movie, unless you count just wanting more of this very good thing. I somehow managed to make it through this entire review with even mentioning the names of the actors playing the three lead students (actually, there are a lot of much-loved actors’ names I’ve left out of this review--Helena Bonham Carter, returning as death-eater Bellatrix Lestrange, being at the top of the list). At least for a little while longer, allow me to pretend that there are no actors playing them. They simply are Harry, Hermione, and Ron for at least one more very long, two-part movie that I have to wait until November 2010 and July 2011 to see. For the first time since this franchise began, I am eagerly anticipating what happens next to these young wizards and their adversaries. Set the countdown clock for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com