On Saturday I accompanied Owen to yet another busy term at Hogwarts... in other words we went to see HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE.

I have followed the story on cinema screens only as I have never felt the urge to crack one of la Rowling's increasingly hefty tomes so I am happy to say I am still in blissful ignorance of how the deal goes down - nope not even tempted to wiki it!

I am presuming that they might have been doing a slow wind-up to the final pitch - make that two pitches bearing in mind the final book will magically turn into two films. Far be it from Warner Brothers to pass Harry into adulthood without one more shake of his wand.One of my favorite quotes about long-lasting franchises was when Ruby Wax asked Neil Simon what he felt about FRIENDS and he said "It's like they made one episode and they show it all the time". This is now how I feel about our Harry.

He returns to Hogwarts for a new term after an ominous event takes place, the arch-enemy Lord Voldemort appears in dreams, ominous clouds gather, Harry looks sheepishly at a girl, a new grown-up - teacher or official - turns up who is not all they seem and finally there is a huge confrontation usually somewhere dark and oppressive. It then ends with Harry recapping what has happened with Team Potter with the warning that it's not over. Cue l-o-n-g credit sequence.Now as I have no particular emotional attachment to the stories or the characters, I can just sit back and enjoy what the various directors have come up with. More than anything I have enjoyed seeing a remarkable swath of Equity members wander on for a series of party 'turns' - some better than others.

This film also had me wondering was I the only one to see an interesting strain of paedophilia finally sneaking into Hogwarts! This film's big main co-star is Jim Broadbent who plays a retired professor who is lured back to the school by Michael Gambon's Dumbledore with Harry as the bait as he knows the old bloke would want the'Chosen One' to join his 'collection' of star pupils - there is even a scene where Harry asks Dumbledore "Do you mean you would like him to collect me?" Well *I* saw a subtext...

Mind you, not to go all CARRIE on you, but it would have been nice for the teenage pupils who are repressing so many lustful emotions to manifest a bit of this in their magical powers.
Actually, Jim Broadbent gave a nice performance but his character is dropped as soon as the end of the film rears it's head and Dumbledore and Harry go off to do the usual fight against the dark forces in the usual dark place - this time an underground flooded cave... I think it was about this time I vaguely lost track of the plot so I'm unsure who the army of Golum lookalikes were who appeared from nowhere.

There have been criticisms that this film strayed from the plot of the book - for me it didn't stray enough... by now there is such an absurdly large collection of characters who must be given even just a few lines that the plot must stop while they all shuffle on to say enough to keep them in the running for the next film....Mark Williams, Julie Walters, David Thewliss, Robbie Coltrane, David Bradley, Timothy Spall - all appeared for no good reason than to pick up a pay-cheque and to do enough to warrant an appearance in the next film.
Someone who does more than just show up is Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix, a nasty witch with Bernadette Peters' old hair. She has great fun in the role and is a genuinely disturbing presence. Mind you, even as a romantic lead Helena Bonham Carter is a genuinely disturbing presence! Hopefully she will get to polish off a few of the good guys in the last one.
Michael Gambon gave the best performance in the film as the doomed Dumbledore, investing his scenes with a depth that was missing from the doleful script - although this time Maggie Smith was given something to do other than tell the pupils to stop running in the corridors - although she still found time to do that as well! I wonder how it all ends?