Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince
Not to be the voice of dissent or anything but I think HBP might actually be my favourite Potter film.
- Favourite doesn't mean best, but seriously, I enjoyed that. This surprised me given The Half-Blood Prince isn't my favourite book, but I really liked what they did with it. This is probably down to the fact that I really don't CARE if they cut bits out from the book or make up their own: I would be more disappointed if the film were a carbon copy. I like being surprised. On top of that, I don't really watch the films as films in their own right, but as sort of... illustrations of the book. So whereas objectively something might not make sense, the way I'm watching it is essentially as fanart. I know the damn plot already, give me a representation of it.
- I enjoyed that the film managed to marry humour and creepiness. It's a bit jarring at times but it's better than the out-and-out misery that could have happened. It's easily the funniest Potter film, and in my opinion was also the creepiest. I've not giggled so much in a cinema for a long time - and the rest of the audience seemed to agree. Teenage hormones and the drama they cause are great for comedy, and they used it. Lavender was wonderful. I loved the shot of her with stars in her eyes over Ron; and then beside her, Neville, looking at her as though she was quite another species.
- SO CREEPY. I love the creepiness the HP series is being treated with. The first two films were way too bright and cheerful, and it was with PoA that they introduced a sort of dreariness to the franchise. Was there a single sunny day in this film? It looks like Scotland, that's for sure. I found Tom Riddle really scary in this - as a young boy, but especially when he was a little older. There was something so very off about him; something in the way they echoed his voice, made him slightly transparent in the memory whereas everyone else seemed solid, and a certain blackness in his eyes and smoothness of skin which seemed unnatural. He made my neck prickle - wonderful.
- They're keeping up the damaged beauty of Hogwarts and that's just wonderful. I loved the white bird and the black bird in the round cage and other such details. It's a real feast for the eyes, I found my attention wandering from the characters quite often just to ogle a bit of set.
- Draco's story in this is brilliant. It was my favourite part of the book, Draco being fleshed out and realising he is not up to the task he has been given, and I think the film handled it very well. I was a little disappointed Harry's response to finding Draco crying was to get angry at him, rather than the gut-punch of pity he feels in the book, but otherwise I thought it was done fantastically. You can really see Draco falling apart under the pressure. Felton was pretty wonderful, actually; the scene in the Great Hall was really well acted. Oh man, I'm loving on Draco again.
- Random thought: Tom Felton isn't and never has been attractive to me but damn, he's learnt to fit a suit well! He's so lanky and his legs so long and that black works wonders on him!
- Blaise looked perfect! And ever so unimpressed with Draco, ha.
- This imagining of Slughorn was really not my own but I loved him. The film did so well in portraying his benign amorality, his likability and the damage that Tom Riddle has caused him. The impression I was left from the books was him deliberately trying to avoid the truth; in this, he was just another person duped by the later Lord Voldemort, and I pitied and liked him.
- I like how it basically becomes "Ron & Harry's Excellent Adventure" for a good half-hour. That was kind of amazing.
- Confession: I've never liked the portrayal of Snape in the HP films. However, this film I actually felt it a bit. I don't know what was different, but I liked it better. I still think the films haven't done the character justice but I'm glad this was an improvement. Though I really missed the final confrontation between Harry and Snape, fts.
- Oh man, I wanted to see Fenrir in wolf-form. And also to see more of his interaction with Draco - that was creepy and ohsowrong in the books.
- I liked Bellatrix better in this one, too.
- Oh god this is ridiculous but the Hogwarts Express crossing the moors. Moorland is my favourite landscape, I respond to it on an emotional level I cannot quite explain and it looked so, so beautiful. Apparently it's Rannoch Moor they used and what an utterly gorgeous place.
- I think I need to buy the soundtrack. There was some... flute music or something that made me all shivery. I love this creepy creepy film.
- Oh, Dumbledore. :((( I love you, you manipulative amoral asshole.
- ETA: (There we a tonne of plotholes but you know what? I don't care. PoA was the same and everyone loves that.)
- And I've just remembered Hermione's STRESS HAIR. That was so great.
- OH GOD THE OPENING TO THE FILM. It was perfect. Harry in front of the characters and it was just so off-feeling, his misery and it felt so very grown-up. I loved it.
ETA 2: Oh, bugger everything I just said, this review says exactly why I liked it. It was just beautiful.
Apparently Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova from Strictly Come Dancing were in the cinema with us. (I trust the eagle eyes of my reality tv-watching friend there.) Random.
HAVE SOME CHRIS:
(I haven't seen this movie but SOMETHING TELLS ME I SHOULD.)
- Favourite doesn't mean best, but seriously, I enjoyed that. This surprised me given The Half-Blood Prince isn't my favourite book, but I really liked what they did with it. This is probably down to the fact that I really don't CARE if they cut bits out from the book or make up their own: I would be more disappointed if the film were a carbon copy. I like being surprised. On top of that, I don't really watch the films as films in their own right, but as sort of... illustrations of the book. So whereas objectively something might not make sense, the way I'm watching it is essentially as fanart. I know the damn plot already, give me a representation of it.
- I enjoyed that the film managed to marry humour and creepiness. It's a bit jarring at times but it's better than the out-and-out misery that could have happened. It's easily the funniest Potter film, and in my opinion was also the creepiest. I've not giggled so much in a cinema for a long time - and the rest of the audience seemed to agree. Teenage hormones and the drama they cause are great for comedy, and they used it. Lavender was wonderful. I loved the shot of her with stars in her eyes over Ron; and then beside her, Neville, looking at her as though she was quite another species.
- SO CREEPY. I love the creepiness the HP series is being treated with. The first two films were way too bright and cheerful, and it was with PoA that they introduced a sort of dreariness to the franchise. Was there a single sunny day in this film? It looks like Scotland, that's for sure. I found Tom Riddle really scary in this - as a young boy, but especially when he was a little older. There was something so very off about him; something in the way they echoed his voice, made him slightly transparent in the memory whereas everyone else seemed solid, and a certain blackness in his eyes and smoothness of skin which seemed unnatural. He made my neck prickle - wonderful.
- They're keeping up the damaged beauty of Hogwarts and that's just wonderful. I loved the white bird and the black bird in the round cage and other such details. It's a real feast for the eyes, I found my attention wandering from the characters quite often just to ogle a bit of set.
- Draco's story in this is brilliant. It was my favourite part of the book, Draco being fleshed out and realising he is not up to the task he has been given, and I think the film handled it very well. I was a little disappointed Harry's response to finding Draco crying was to get angry at him, rather than the gut-punch of pity he feels in the book, but otherwise I thought it was done fantastically. You can really see Draco falling apart under the pressure. Felton was pretty wonderful, actually; the scene in the Great Hall was really well acted. Oh man, I'm loving on Draco again.
- Random thought: Tom Felton isn't and never has been attractive to me but damn, he's learnt to fit a suit well! He's so lanky and his legs so long and that black works wonders on him!
- Blaise looked perfect! And ever so unimpressed with Draco, ha.
- This imagining of Slughorn was really not my own but I loved him. The film did so well in portraying his benign amorality, his likability and the damage that Tom Riddle has caused him. The impression I was left from the books was him deliberately trying to avoid the truth; in this, he was just another person duped by the later Lord Voldemort, and I pitied and liked him.
- I like how it basically becomes "Ron & Harry's Excellent Adventure" for a good half-hour. That was kind of amazing.
- Confession: I've never liked the portrayal of Snape in the HP films. However, this film I actually felt it a bit. I don't know what was different, but I liked it better. I still think the films haven't done the character justice but I'm glad this was an improvement. Though I really missed the final confrontation between Harry and Snape, fts.
- Oh man, I wanted to see Fenrir in wolf-form. And also to see more of his interaction with Draco - that was creepy and ohsowrong in the books.
- I liked Bellatrix better in this one, too.
- Oh god this is ridiculous but the Hogwarts Express crossing the moors. Moorland is my favourite landscape, I respond to it on an emotional level I cannot quite explain and it looked so, so beautiful. Apparently it's Rannoch Moor they used and what an utterly gorgeous place.
- I think I need to buy the soundtrack. There was some... flute music or something that made me all shivery. I love this creepy creepy film.
- Oh, Dumbledore. :((( I love you, you manipulative amoral asshole.
- ETA: (There we a tonne of plotholes but you know what? I don't care. PoA was the same and everyone loves that.)
- And I've just remembered Hermione's STRESS HAIR. That was so great.
- OH GOD THE OPENING TO THE FILM. It was perfect. Harry in front of the characters and it was just so off-feeling, his misery and it felt so very grown-up. I loved it.
ETA 2: Oh, bugger everything I just said, this review says exactly why I liked it. It was just beautiful.
Apparently Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova from Strictly Come Dancing were in the cinema with us. (I trust the eagle eyes of my reality tv-watching friend there.) Random.
HAVE SOME CHRIS:
(I haven't seen this movie but SOMETHING TELLS ME I SHOULD.)