Harry Podder and the Half-Blood Prince

Posted by Lou. The time is 4.08pm here in London, UK.

A note on my subject line: an American guy at work has insistently been saying "do you want to come to my Harry Potter dress-up party?" in imitation of a line from Rhys Darby (assumedly in FotC, but who knows) - everyone was like "ha ha - great accent!"... until we found out he was trying to do Kiwi, not British. I've tried to teach him to drop the correctly pronounced T's in Potter but he just. doesn't. geddit. (Yes, I refer to the Banal De Jeebus himself.) Anyhoo...

I'd like to commence this review by giving a round of applause to Rupert Grint - he continues to be the shining star of the young portion of the cast of the HP films, bringing humour and warmth to every scene he's in. I'd then like to give Daniel Radcliffe a bit of a pat on the arm for having improved a bit, and definitely developed a bit of a talent for comedy. Emma... oh Emma... you seem so sweet, so lovely, such a great role model - I like you, I really do... but dear god... you really can't act, can you? I mean, I'd probably give you a standing ovation for just managing to develop a second facial expression by the final scene of the final film. How about becoming a writer/ director/ producer of strong female-centric films for younger generations, or something? Wouldn't that be a wonderful use of your money/ power/ facial-expressions? (I'd also like to do a quick shout-out to Alan Rickman - I love you.)

The HP films have been growing on me - each one seemed to get better, develop more of a unique style and look, and feel more authentically like a real, proper film. This one certainly continued the upward trek - I enjoyed it immensely and only had a couple of moments of criiiiinge (oh Emma... Emma Emma Emma...). I thought it looked great, moved along nicely thanks to Grint's comedy genius, and as ever they have brought in a Proper Serious Award-winning Actor to magnificently portray the role of the new, eccentric character (this time Jim Broadbent). Being a river-dwelling Londoner, it was great seeing Millennium Bridge get a starring role in the opening sequence. The emotional element was also well-played - though our frickin' cinema did a good job of trying to spoil it with G.I. Joe from the neighbouring cinema blaring through the walls during the climactic you-know-what occurred.

Obviously only one for HP fans, but a good one indeed.