Harry Potter Grows Up - page 2

4 months ago 11th Jul 08:15

But as soon as the school term starts, Harry has more important things to worry about. This year he is having private lessons with Dumbledore.

Together, headmaster and student must delve into dark wizard Lord Voldemort's past to find a way to defeat him once and for all.

Before they can begin, Harry has to convince Professor Slughorn to divulge a secret involving the young Lord Voldemort - known as Tom Riddle - which he is determined to take to the grave.

It's a tricky task, made more difficult by Harry's growing obsession with Malfoy.

He suspects Malfoy is behind a series of dark deeds in the school, but Dumbledore refuses to listen until it is too late.

Soon, the school is facing attack from both outside and within and the time comes for certain people to show their true colours.

But while dark forces amass beyond the castle's walls, Harry and his schoolmates under attack from a different kind of foe - raging hormones.

As Harry lusts after Ginny with all the subtlety of a howler, Ron spends most of the first half of the film eagerly swapping saliva with his ditzy classmate Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave).

Even prissy Hermione spends an evening getting groped by a burly jock at a boozy Christmas party and no one seems to be able to go anywhere in the castle after dark without bumping into randy couples in various states of undress.

But while the saucy scenes are likely to horrify children the world over, the film looks likely to become the most critically acclaimed 'Harry Potter' movie yet.

Almost all the early reviews of the film have praised the movie's cinematography and special effects, as well as its focus on characters and gothic feel.

Critics have also sung the praises of Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter and Daniel Radcliffe, declaring them "masterful", "very emotional" and "astounding".

The first review of the film - by Paul Dergarabedian of film website Hollywood.com - even declared it a "possible Oscar contender", putting it in the same class as 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy.

He said: "'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' is a tour-de-force that combines style and substance, special effects and heart and most importantly great performances from all of the actors young and not-so-young."

Regardless of reviews, the film is certain to be an instant box office hit.

So far, the 'Harry Potter' film franchise has made more than $4.2 billion worldwide. This film is expected to be the highest-grossing instalment so far, with analysts predicting it will make over $650 million.

Nearly $20 million of this is likely to be made on the opening weekend.

Justin Johnson from the British Film Institute said the film had already generated an "unprecedented" level of interest, with more than £215,000 worth of advance tickets already sold for the first month of screenings at the IMAX in London.

Interest in the film is fast approaching hysteria, but just 12 months ago, many fans feared it would never be released.

Originally due to premiere in November 2008, the film's release date was pushed back eight months to July 2009.

Warner Brothers admitted the decision had been made for financial reasons, as films released in the summer make more money, particularly from schoolchildren.

Fans were initially infuriated by the delay, vowing to boycott the film and sending Warner Brothers executives hate mail, but anger soon gave way to speculation the film had been pushed back because it was awful.

Despite the controversy, over 3,000 fans - many of who dressed as characters from the movie - attended the film's premiere this week, camping next to the red carpet in London for more than 24 hours.

Excitement reached fever pitch as Daniel's limousine approached, but as it pulled up to the kerb, the heavens opened.

By the time the 20-year-old actor had signed his first autograph, it was hailing.

When it became apparent the torrential rain was not going to stop anytime soon, Rupert joined Daniel in the rain, shunning umbrellas so he could get closer to his fans.

As soon as the rain eased, the sodden boys were joined by Emma, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Bonnie Wright, Helen McCrory, Tom Felton, Jessie Cave, Evanna Lynch and Matthew Lewis.

Most of the cast wore white ribbons around their wrists in tribute to their murdered co-star Rob Knox, who was stabbed outside a London pub last May.

Daniel said: "Rob would have loved to be here tonight. It's awful that he's not. It must be very hard for his family."

The actor - who is currently filming the final instalment of the wizard series 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', which will be split into two films - also spoke about life after Hogwarts.

He said: "It's going to be very, very sad to finish these movies but at the same time it will be exciting, there's more stuff to move on to, so I'm not purely depressed about finishing them.

"Hopefully we'll all go on to have amazing careers but we'll never forget Harry."

Emma agreed, adding: "I'll be so sad when this series comes to an end. We've all grown up doing it but no one can take those memories away from us, and these movies are going to last forever. They belong to the fans now".

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' will be released next Wednesday (15.07.09).

By Kerry Coleman