I waited two years for this
Not my secret, but I found it an interesting one on PostSecret this week. Just as before (http://beladona-took.livejournal.com/93599.html) spoilers shall abound. Please proceed with caution.
Tuesday, my house guest and two good friends went to the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. First off, I got to drink this:
Spiffy glass that I got to keep and I can now announce to the world that I have consumed the fabled Butterbeer. The beverage itself? Bleck lol. It was like butterscotch and pale ale: two flavors that never need to be mixed. Moving on. Just as before, we went to the Alamo Drafthouse (this time the Lake Creek location as the Village had sold out nearly 3 weeks before release!) and stood in line with all the other excited Harry Potter fans. We all knew what awaited us inside that theater and we were all excited to get in there and see it. They let us in about 45 minutes before the start of the show, so I got to show my friend the Alamo experience and we ordered our food stuffs. Shortly thereafter the lights went down :) Again, I feel the need to break my review into three categories:
1 - What they got right (and by that I mean fucking perfect):
* The Unbreakable Vow - They didn't start the movie with it, as they did the book, but it wasn't far into the film and it was amazing. Narcissa and Snape bound arm and arm with a scar marking the bond and her turmoil over her son's task... it was perfect. The emotion from her and the lack from him were exactly as I'd pictured while reading. And Bellatrix's insistence in the vow and her maddening interactions were simply brilliant :) And speaking of Bella....
*Bellatrix Lestrange - As I said before, she's probably my favorite character to be introduced after the start of the series. And she reprisedher role perfectly. Her insanity and her appearance did not change at all - her sing-song taunting and lack of any conscious whatsoever continued to project my image of her every second she was on the screen. She was manic, beautiful and perfect.
*Malfoy's Distress - After given his task from Voldemort he becomes very important and very scared. In the book his stress is clear, but I think the movie (not to mention Tom Felton's acting) conveys it even better. He's clearly tormented and, while he wants to be important, prove himself and become the new head of his household, he doesn't want to go through with what he has to do. Every moment he was on the screen he was Malfoy.
*Professor Slughorn - I had a particular mental image while reading the story that wasn't exactly what I saw on the screen, but Jim Broadbent behaved as Horace from the first moment to the last. Much like Staunton from OotP, first glance was deceiving, but the casting was perfect. He was comfy and smug. self involved and ashamed of his past behavior as Tom Riddle's teacher, exactly as he was in the book. Which leads us to..
*Student Tom Riddle - O. M. G. Perfect creepiness. He portrayed the subtle evil that you picked up off the page with the charismatic personality to get anything he wanted any time he wanted it. He was outstanding.
*Luna Lovegood - Like Bellatrix, her role was perfectly reprised. Beautiful and spacey with her subtle wisdom practically dripping off the screen.
*Hermione and Ron, Ginny and Harry - The chemistry was perfect between each pair. They even included the attacking canaries. Unrequited love gets me every time and Hermione crying on the steps broke my heart. They lifted the scene off the pages perfectly - she realized her feelings and Ron remained retarded and blind to it lol. Harry falling for Ginny was just as great; I'd been on her side from day one, but watching him realize how he felt was incredible. There was a scene at a Slug Club dinner that reminded me of the tension in my favorite scene from Girl with a Pearl Earring. So captivating. I adored it.
*The Weasly Joke Shop - It was excellent! Just what I'd imagined - all their gizmos brought to life. One of the brighter, lighter sides of the movie.
*Molly's Face - The Death Eaters (Bellatrix included) destroyed the Burrow. And they showed Molly Weasly in one of her (maybe) 4 scenes in the movie. The look on her face as her home burned to the ground was too much. I could cry all over again just thinking about it.
*Dumbledore and the Potion - This part killed me. When I had read it I sobbed and I was really worried about how they would bring it to the screen. Michael Gambon was incredible. From the first sip to the last, the anguish on his face and the pleading in his voice for Harry to stop was gut wrenching. I remember reading it and Harry kept saying something to the effect of "Drink this and the pain will stop" while he continued to pour the very thing causing the pain down his throat. Daniel also did an incredible job in this scene - he was nearly in as much pain as Dumbledore. It was the chapter brought to life and I cried just as hard over it as I did the book.
*Dumbledore's Death - The exhaustion on his face. His conversation with Malfoy. His pleading with Snape. Oh how the tears flowed.
2 - What they changed (because it's a movie -not a book- and time restraints), but still managed to get across pretty well:
*The Memories - There were many parts to the pensive and trips back to Tom Riddle's past that they had to drop, but even without them they did a pretty good job conveying what they were looking for. The memories of Tom as a little boy and as a student were good, there just weren't as many of them.
*Harry and the Black Ring - They didn't give us a lot of information on Horcrux #2 (the black ring) presumably because there was too much to fit into one movie. But they showed Dumbledore's hand and he explained the toll it had taken to destroy it. My favorite part of the scene, however, was not in the book - Harry touched the ring. When he did there was a fast clip of cut scenes and Voldemort, nicely hinting that Harry himself was a Horcrux. I was genuinely impressed.
*Ron & Quidditch - Much like the movie before, they had to chop the sport down, but they still conveyed Ron overcoming his fear and insecurities to become an important part of the team. They never showed when he failed and all the Slytherine's sang out "Weasly is our king!" but they made it clear that he was not that good at the sport out of the gate.
*Sectumsempra - Great spell hidden in Harry's potions book. I had a mental image of it that wasn't quite there on the screen, but the instance in which it was used and the small duel between Harry and Malfoy was really good. I recall more intensity in the book, but it was still well conveyed.
*Luna finding Harry instead of Tonks - There wasn't really a need for this change, but I assume they just had to condense it for time. They squished it to quickly explain the Aurors at the school as well. Not a really necessary change, but not that bothersome.
*Harry & Ginny's Kiss - This honestly annoyed me a bit. The tension between the two in the book was perfectly played out in the movie, but their first kiss took place after Ron helps win the Quidditch cup. It's a great little moment of passion on which Ron observes, gets frustrated and quickly approves. In the movie? Just the two of them in the Room of Requirement while getting rid of the potions book. Really? Why?
3 - What they left out:
*Dumbledore's Funeral - WTF? WTF?? They just left it out. Nothing. Not a fucking thing. They (students and teachers) came down to him after he fell from the tower, surrounded his body and raised their wands in silence. And. That. Was. It.
*The Fight between the Kids and the Death Eaters - Liquid luck nowhere to be found (Harry drank it all, not just a few drops, to get the memory from Slughorn), there was nothing to split between Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna. And without that luck there was no fight with the Death Eaters after they took the castle. So, apparently, when all the people raised their wands (you'd have thought they were singing "every rose has it's thorn" except they weren't swaying) for Dumbledore that scared off the bad guys all by itself. Whatever.
*Tonks & Remus - If you'll recall, last time I mentioned that the fight between Tonks and Bellatrix was missing and that would affect the next movie (this one, for those playing at home) since Tonks was supposed to be depressed and Harry thought it was over Sirius and etc etc. Well, they bypassed that altogether. No depression, no unrequited love for Lupin. We see them twice in the movie. She calls him sweetie and says she has to get him home. And that's it. Apparently they magically (Ha! I'm punny) got together without anyone telling anyone. Mind the plot hole - it's big, so don't fall.
*Bill - Nowhere to be found. Not even a little bit. No engagement, no fight with Greyback. Ah well. Good thing he's not important to the end of the stories, right?
*Harry & Ginny's Relationship (and the end of it) - Nonexistent. There was the tension. He made mention of his feelings to Hermione and there was the aforementioned Slug Club dinner, but he never confessed his love to Ginny. There was the single kiss. And that was it. No relationship like there was in the book, and there was no end to it at Dumbledore's funeral when he said he wasn't coming back. Wonder why that was.
All in all, as indicated by my post, there was more I liked than not. I made it 70 minutes in before crying, but after that all bets were off lol. Hopefully DVD extras will make up for the few (but massive) things that were lacking. The good news is you have another 18 months or so before another one of these lengthy reviews :)