Romance rakes in the revenue for Potter

An air of foreboding has definitely settled over Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , the sixth instalment of Warner Bros' fabulously successful series. David Yates, in his go at the helm, throws the emphasis on the gathering storm clouds even as Harry and his fellow wizardry students make further discoveries involving the opposite sex. Yes, the end is in sight, and yet so much still needs to be developed and resolved for Hogwarts' students, faculty, friends – and enemies. The movie begins in a rush. The Death Eaters lay siege to the realms of both wizarding and the Muggles. Diving from the sky in dark, spiralling vapour trails unseen by Muggle eyes, these demons wreak havoc on London, even collapsing the Millennium Bridge. Abruptly, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) appears on a railway station platform to intercept his prize student, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, looking older but more unsettled), who is on the verge of an impromptu date. Dumbledore demands instead that Harry accompany him on an urgent mission. Holding on to the professor's arm and travelling in a kind of Star Trek warp speed, they arrive in a small, village and enter what appears to be a thoroughly ransacked house. Here Harry meets the new guest star/visiting professor of the upcoming school year, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), a former potions professor. Dumbledore means to lure Slughorn back to Hogwarts so that Harry might dislodge a key clue regarding the Dark Lord from the professor's resistant mind. Seems Slughorn once had a star pupil named Tom Riddle, a child wizard who turned into – you guessed it – Voldemort. All this has a hurried feeling. Shouldn't there be repercussions to the collapse of a London bridge? The movie never stops to ask. Steve Kloves, who scripted the first four instalments but skipped the fifth one, is back to scoot audiences through events that transpire in a twinkling. There seldom is a moment of reflection here. Those that do occur are devoted to unfulfilled romantic yearnings more than the contemplation of an oppressive destiny. But those romantic yearnings offer relief from the dark doings. Harry is growing close to Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright), but a boyfriend is in the way. Among his friends, Hermione's (Emma Watson) secret admiration of Ron (Rupert Grint) has developed into a crush. But Ron is smothered by his romantic "stalker," Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave), to notice. Over on the dark side, Harry's nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is acting strangely. Charged with an unnamed task by the Dark Lord, he sneaks off to a storeroom in Hogwarts castle to experiment with a Vanishing Cabinet. The task so weighs on him, causing his smug veneer to all but melt away. The film finds better footing in the second half. Harry's identity as the "Chosen One" is firmly established, while Dumbledore puts the burden on him to defend both wizardry, and the Mumble world, against the Dark Lord. This reaches a climax when the two whisk away once again, this time to a cave deep inside a windy and forbidding sheer cliff. Their pursuit is ill defined, and the whole episode is something of a cheat because it's a false climax leading to the real confrontation between Dumbledore, Malfoy and Severus, who no longer troubles to disguise his true allegiance. This does put Harry on the bench; Dumbledore has forbidden his involvement. But it will all pay off in another couple of films – the last novel will throw off two films. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .