David Yates returns at the helm of the sixth and second to last adaptation in the Harry Potter series and the result is a character driven story that sets up the final chapter that lacks a lot of action, as the source material dictates, that makes it a bit of the odd duck in the Harry Potter films.
Harry, having just lost his last living person he would call family in his godfather Sirius Black, Harry has spent the summer in a bit of a malaise away from the magic world. But when Lord Voldemort’s minion’s, the Death Eaters, actions begin to pour over into the muggle world he can’t help but notice the entire world becoming less safe a place to be. Potter is surprisingly visited by Dumbledore right before the start of the new school year only to be whisked away to help service Dumbledore’s attempt to recruit an ex-colleague back to Hogwarts. We then discover that Draco Malfoy has been tasked by the Dark Lord with a life risking endeavor that leads his mother to seek out Severus Snape to form an unbreakable vow to protect the Malfoy boy from harm. Potter quickly discovers that the professor Dumbledore recruited, Slughorn, has an important key to Dumbledore’s fight against Voldemort and understanding how to beat the Dark Lord. Harry is called upon to help Dumbledore gain this memory of Slughorn’s and he attempts to coax it from the professor in between the romantic ups and downs of himself and his best friends Ron and Hermione. [Read more...]