In theaters
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, directed by David Yates, written by Steve Kloves, 153 minutes, rated PG.
The new Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” is the sixth film in the franchise, and time is on its side.
The actors possess their best chemistry yet, slipping into this unraveling otherworld of growing evil with such seamless ease, it’s as if two years haven’t passed between movies and that the stakes aren’t as high as they are. There are plenty of moments for comic asides in this movie — some corny, others bright — even though evil is busy wending its way through Hogwarts and surrounding areas at a blistering pace.
David Yates directs from Steve Kloves’ script, itself based on J.K. Rowling’s book, and what they created is a fine segue out of most of the awkwardness of adolescence and into the throes of young adulthood. A good deal of their movie is unsettling and intense, more grounded and rich than any other film in the series.
This time out, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) must deal with not only the fact that romance is entering into their lives, but also that Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is increasingly giving himself over to a dark side that will threaten them all if he fully embraces it.
And so, while Ron and Hermione brood along the sidelines — her affections for Ron are fully revealed in this movie, though in ways that are unrequited since Ron is involved with a fierce little minx named Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) — it’s Harry who naturally has the most challenges to contend with.
First up are dealing with his feelings for Ron’s sister, Ginny (Bonnie Wright) — he’s smitten with her. Second is the real core of the story, which focuses on how Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) needs Harry’s help to undo Lord Voldemort. To succeed, Harry must get close to Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), who returns to Hogwarts to teach his bevy of potions, but who is unaware that Dumbledore has charged Harry to pull from Slughorn a hidden memory that could help shut Voldemort down.
It won’t be easy, but Harry is game and so the story plunges forward, with audiences treated to several harrowing scenes, not the least of which involve how Harry taps into memories (it’s ingeniously rendered by the film’s superb special effects) and another scene that takes place in a cave filled with creatures reminiscent of Gollum from the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Watching them emerge from the water is a queasy experience, to say the least, and the film at its best.
While Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid and Maggie Smith’s Minerva McGonagall continue to be shortchanged, which is a shame given the talent involved, Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape finds himself at the center of the movie, with his character realizing a depth it never has enjoyed. Rickman is all sneering evil here, so beautifully menacing, you wish for even more of him given the absence of Voldemort himself. The same goes for Helena Bonham Carter’s Bellatrix Lestrange, a wild toss of Gothic frizz who bellows through the movie and gives it a wild edge during those few moments she’s allowed onscreen.
But even when she, Coltrane and Smith aren’t onscreen, the movie satisfies with new revelations and twists, one of which is so dire, it left many at my screening in their seats long after fate revealed its cruel hand and the credits started to roll.
Grade: B+
On DVD and Blu-ray disc
CORALINE, written and directed by Henry Selick, 100 minutes, rated PG.
Henry Selick’s beautifully rendered stop-motion film “Coraline” is so masterfully realized, it already has staked its claim as one of the animated movies to beat at next year’s Academy Awards.
The unsettling opening credits involve the ghostly unstuffing of a floating doll, which on paper doesn’t sound too terrifying, really, but the way it’s handled here, with the doll’s foamy guts and button eyes being removed while needles pierce its deflated body and then stitch its gaping mouth shut, there’s something unnerving about the visuals.
Once restuffed, the end product is a doll that looks a lot like Coraline Jones (voice of Dakota Fanning), an unhappy tween with blue hair and a bluer mood who recently has moved with her distracted parents into an apartment in the Oregon wilds.
The house in which they now live is a massive Victorian, with three other tenants sharing the two other apartments. They include two bawdy former burlesque performers (Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders), and Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane), a balloon-bellied ringleader of his own private circus.
In them, Coraline seeks escape from the uncomfortable truth of modern-day life — her mother (Teri Hatcher) and father (John Hodgmen) are working so hard to pay the bills, they don’t have much time or patience for her. Coraline’s mother is particularly grumpy and unloving — she’d rather blog about gardening than tend to her own flower. As for Coraline’s father, he’s a distracted mess who lives so deeply in his head, he has no eyes for Coraline.
From them both Coraline longs to escape, and so when into her life comes an opportunity to do so, she pulls an Alice and slips through a hidden door. Through it is a tunnel that leads into a parallel world, where Coraline meets her Other Mother and her Other Father, who might have buttons for eyes, sure, but my, are these two ever nice to her. Other Mother cooks and smiles. Other Father addresses Coraline with a directness she’s never known. It’s all good — too good, really — as Coraline comes to know with a growing sense of fear as she realizes she’s up against the dark and otherworldly.
Mirroring “Up” and “WALL-E,” “Coraline” is a movie whose story doesn’t come before its superb animation — it matches it. This isn’t eye candy for the sake of eye candy — it’s a movie that unabashedly holds up a mirror to its audience and wonders how many children and parents are seeing themselves reflected back. This will be uncomfortable for some, but it is just this that deepens the movie and makes it relevant. “Coraline” is a fantastic tale sheathed in delight, mystery and wackery, but look into its bleak crevices and behold what for many the family unit has become.
Grade: A
WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, DVD giveaways and movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.