Harry Potter: 5 Reasons You Need To Rewatch The Half-Blood Prince
3. An unprecedented tone
When you think of Harry Potter, what comes into your head? A fun, magical, maybe even exhilarating experience? Well, what happens when one of the films strays away from this formula?
The sixth film has the seemingly impossible task of bridging the gap between the pain and confusion of the Order of the Phoenix and the epic quest ahead of the trio in The Deathly Hallows, and it does this by creating and sustaining a new kind of Potter experience - one that is both dark and complex.
The Order of the Phoenix concluded with Sirius Black's death, a tragedy that left viewers mourning a beloved character. Simultaneously, it left the Harry Potter world in darkness, casting it into the unknown and leaving even the wisest of characters feeling uncertain and frightened of the future.
To carry the story forward, therefore, The Half-Blood Prince needed to cater to these realities and change the Potter formula, and it does it in such a beautiful way that it takes a second look to fully appreciate.
Throughout the film, we are surrounded by secrecy and caution, blatantly portrayed by the dark and dry colour palette - which brilliant contrasts the colour of the earlier films - as well as many other clever tropes. Diagon Alley is largely abandoned, most of the scenes are conducted under the faintest of light, and the music is constantly low and tense. The orchestral strings used in the scene between Snape and Draco after Horace's Christmas party are just mesmerising, and they perfectly suspend the audience's attention.
The film's tense atmosphere builds and builds until the emphatic ending - where Harry learns about horcruxes and Dumbledore is killed - and succeeds in guiding the audience from the messy ending of the previous film, through the world's rising stakes, and into the horcrux hunt of The Deathly Hallows.
The tone is a masterful reflection of the darkened world of wizardry, and on second viewing, the film becomes a glorious part of the Harry Potter story that deserves appreciation.