Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Here we are again with an installment to this potentially epic saga that has produced another bittersweet result.

The visuals are lush: Bruno Delbonnel's photography is impressive but yet pleasingly subtle, the art design (particularly that of the cave) is glorious, and the effects are admirable. Nicholas Hooper's score, though not as sweeping as John Williams' early work, yet again proves to be an elegant addition. The scene that takes place within the cave is incredibly engaging and is given the scale it deserves.

As enjoyable as much of the film is, for those of us who know better, there is an unpleasant aftertaste that arrives when the credits come up. We know the source material. We know all the plot devices and characters. We know every line of dialogue and every intricate bit of action that's expected to occur. Yet we don't care about any of this as much as we care about the emotions that come with them. David Yates and his cast and crew do what they can with the script they have been given. However, Steve Kloves yet again (as he did particularly in installments 3 & 4) chooses to make undesirable omissions.

My distaste for his contribution to this series does not stem from the exclusion of subplots and supporting characters or the supposed misinterpretation of what I think people and places should look like. Give me more credit than that. I accept the film as its own entity. What I cannot remain ignorant to is when there are certain emotions that should exist that simply aren't there.

When the climax of the film came I realized it had not been earned. There was simply not enough build. Here was a chance to explore what sent the "greatest dark wizard of all-time" on his descent into hell and we miss out on it. There is no sense of discovery and mystery on the past of this satanic character. All we really learn is the bare necessities to allow the story to continue.

There is no speculation and curiosity, or even any thorough explanation, on the identity of the "Half-Blood Prince" that the film draws its title from. It merely becomes a matter of fact. There is no hint at the heart-breaking betrayal that occurs. There are no pains of weak desperation.

Instead time was allotted on an unmotivated destruction of the Weasley's home that ultimately was never assigned any true purpose.

I have trouble contriving any other explanation other than that Kloves and anyone who finalized his script underestimated the attention span of their audience. There was a depth that could have been explored but was only glanced at, tears that could have been shed but merely lingered in the eyes, and a horribly dark horizon that could have been painted by the end but was only hinted at.

The only potential Oscar nominations: Art Direction and Cinematography.