I'm not crying. I swear! *hides Kleenex*
So I went to see a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I had a great time with my friends and enjoyed the movie far more than I expected (it is...not my favorite book. It's...not NOT my least favorite book). Here's my review of the film.
As I said, this is my least favorite book of the series, as I feel romance is not JKR's strength and far too much of HBP dissolves into a romantic mess. So perhaps it's that my expectations weren't very high, but I enjoyed the film more than I expected to, and didn't mind some of the cuts as much as I thought I would (although I still maintain Yates could make the films longer).
Strengths
-Once again, I must stress how much I absolutely adore Dan Radcliffe and how happy I am that they found him for the role of Harry. These movies could never work even a little if he weren't up to the challenge of carrying them, and he SO is. Whether it's drama or comedy, he can pull it off. He was absolutely hilarious through most of the Felix Felicis sequence (the pincers. LOLOLOL), but so compelling when the conversation turned to his mother. And as always, he was wonderful in the climactic moments of the movie, particularly cursing Malfoy, encouraging Dumbledore to drink the potion, and the entire sequence of Dumbledore's death.
-Of course. Of COURSE this is the movie Gambon finally nails the part of DD. When DD dies. An across the board well done to Michael Gambon (even when DD briefly falters- "You have no choice, you must not fail" Good pep talk!- it's not his fault and he does the best he can with the delivery to be gentle). Fine. I cried. And cried and cried. As y'all may know, my favorite relationship in the books is Harry and Dumbledore, and for the first time in awhile the love between them really clicked just as Dumbledore dies and leaves Harry alone. And that slow shot of DD falling, was that REALLY necessary?! I was upset enough as it was? *cries* I also love the little moment of DD remembering Harry as a child.
-Once again, Dan and Emma have a lovely and natural chemistry that feels more real and much less forced than the scripted romances of the movie. All of their scenes were highlights.
-The love potion scene was HILARIOUS. Ron getting on the bed with Harry. LMAO. And falling off the couch in the background. Heeee. I love that Harry gives him a pillow to hug, so randomly awesome. Rupert rocked that scene. I had been picturing that since I read the book, and Dan and Rupert did not disappoint.
-Lavender was totally over the top in a very funny and entertaining way. Her drawing the heart on the train door was a highlight, once again because of how Harry and Ron reacted. And her reaction after the break up was too funny, the trio turning to look at her was an icon moment.
-God, Evanna is just perfect as Luna, and once again she and Dan also have wonderful chemistry that knocks canon couples out of the park. I loved Harry immediately saying they were friends and the cut from saying he'd invite someone cool that he liked to seeing him taking Luna to the party.
-Tom Felton! Damn, boy! When did you learn how to act? I was expecting him not to be able to pull Malfoy's conflict off, and was pleasantly surprised to find those were some of the best scenes of the movie. I particularly liked Malfoy's conflict at DD's speech towards the beginning, coming full circle to his distress as he sees Bellatrix trashing the Great Hall.
-The underused and always wonderful Alan Rickman. Really, the entire sequence of Dumbledore's death was absolutely riveting, with beautiful performances by everyone involved (Dan, Gambon, Alan, Tom, Helena). Alan was also great in the Unbreakable Vow scene.
-There's a part of this sequence I don't like that I'll mention, but I overall did find the added attack on the Burrows to be very well done, gave the audience an adrenaline rush. And the callback of Bellatrix screaming that she killed Sirius and sending Harry into a rage was a nice touch.
-Pretty good job by the actor playing Slughorn. I enjoyed seeing a more focused Harry on his efforts to get the memory.
-Hello, HOTTIE alert with Cormac! Funny role.
-Nice shot of the trio at the end. It should always be the three of them.
Weaknesses
-Harry and Ginny. It was better than in the book, where Ginny was an utter bitch, but here she seems to be a bit personality free. Or maybe more than a bit, lol. Dan and Bonnie have absolutely no chemistry and aren't really trying to. It's not believable that Harry is jealous, perhaps because Dan is too busy doing actually important work, lol. I did like that it didn't slow Harry down in his mission, but this is clearly not the love story of the century. The kiss was lameeeeeeeeeeee. And her charging off after him in the Burrows attack might have been more compelling if she hadn't just STOOD there afterward like the dumb horror movie chick waiting for big bad Harry to rescue her.
-This is a flaw in the book that the movie can't overcome- Ron and Hermione come off as thoroughly unlikable and immature during their bitchfight (in the book, it's more Ron, in this case it's more Hermione since Ron isn't as cruel to her in the movie- the stupid bird stunt and Confunding Cormac therefore put her over the top here) and since Harry is more focused on what he needs to do, it comes across all the more clearly that these two are being brats while Harry is fighting for his life. They also delve so much into silliness that it's not very clear why they're useful characters in terms of the overall arc in HBP.
-I didn't mind the cuts as much as I thought I would- but I still minded them, particularly the lack of explanation about the ring. And while I appreciated any focus on the ring, why did that reaction happen? It shouldn't be a Horcrux anymore. They should have at least said Riddle had killed his father at that point. Some of the cuts to Harry and DD's lessons were jarring. Harry doesn't find out that Snape was the one who heard the prophecy. And I didn't notice it the way I did in OotP, but they still cut my two favorite lines. "No need to call me sir, Professor." "He called me Dumbledore's man through and through...I told him I was."
-I did not like Molly's "Harry who?" at ALL. He's supposed to be like a son to her. Dumb moment for humor.
-Not NEARLY enough Lupin, they robbed Thewlis of Lupin's reaction to DD dying, and they managed to make Lupin and Tonks even more senseless and jarring than in the books.
In Between
This is mainly for the special effects, because I appreciated the Gandolf-like ring of fire and the incredible depth of the water that indicated just how many people Voldemort had murdered to hide that Horcrux alone- but I don't think it was clear to movie goers what they were and the special effects didn't help. Also, Aragog shrunk by about 10 sizes since The Chamber of Secrets.
Thoughts, comments?
As I said, this is my least favorite book of the series, as I feel romance is not JKR's strength and far too much of HBP dissolves into a romantic mess. So perhaps it's that my expectations weren't very high, but I enjoyed the film more than I expected to, and didn't mind some of the cuts as much as I thought I would (although I still maintain Yates could make the films longer).
Strengths
-Once again, I must stress how much I absolutely adore Dan Radcliffe and how happy I am that they found him for the role of Harry. These movies could never work even a little if he weren't up to the challenge of carrying them, and he SO is. Whether it's drama or comedy, he can pull it off. He was absolutely hilarious through most of the Felix Felicis sequence (the pincers. LOLOLOL), but so compelling when the conversation turned to his mother. And as always, he was wonderful in the climactic moments of the movie, particularly cursing Malfoy, encouraging Dumbledore to drink the potion, and the entire sequence of Dumbledore's death.
-Of course. Of COURSE this is the movie Gambon finally nails the part of DD. When DD dies. An across the board well done to Michael Gambon (even when DD briefly falters- "You have no choice, you must not fail" Good pep talk!- it's not his fault and he does the best he can with the delivery to be gentle). Fine. I cried. And cried and cried. As y'all may know, my favorite relationship in the books is Harry and Dumbledore, and for the first time in awhile the love between them really clicked just as Dumbledore dies and leaves Harry alone. And that slow shot of DD falling, was that REALLY necessary?! I was upset enough as it was? *cries* I also love the little moment of DD remembering Harry as a child.
-Once again, Dan and Emma have a lovely and natural chemistry that feels more real and much less forced than the scripted romances of the movie. All of their scenes were highlights.
-The love potion scene was HILARIOUS. Ron getting on the bed with Harry. LMAO. And falling off the couch in the background. Heeee. I love that Harry gives him a pillow to hug, so randomly awesome. Rupert rocked that scene. I had been picturing that since I read the book, and Dan and Rupert did not disappoint.
-Lavender was totally over the top in a very funny and entertaining way. Her drawing the heart on the train door was a highlight, once again because of how Harry and Ron reacted. And her reaction after the break up was too funny, the trio turning to look at her was an icon moment.
-God, Evanna is just perfect as Luna, and once again she and Dan also have wonderful chemistry that knocks canon couples out of the park. I loved Harry immediately saying they were friends and the cut from saying he'd invite someone cool that he liked to seeing him taking Luna to the party.
-Tom Felton! Damn, boy! When did you learn how to act? I was expecting him not to be able to pull Malfoy's conflict off, and was pleasantly surprised to find those were some of the best scenes of the movie. I particularly liked Malfoy's conflict at DD's speech towards the beginning, coming full circle to his distress as he sees Bellatrix trashing the Great Hall.
-The underused and always wonderful Alan Rickman. Really, the entire sequence of Dumbledore's death was absolutely riveting, with beautiful performances by everyone involved (Dan, Gambon, Alan, Tom, Helena). Alan was also great in the Unbreakable Vow scene.
-There's a part of this sequence I don't like that I'll mention, but I overall did find the added attack on the Burrows to be very well done, gave the audience an adrenaline rush. And the callback of Bellatrix screaming that she killed Sirius and sending Harry into a rage was a nice touch.
-Pretty good job by the actor playing Slughorn. I enjoyed seeing a more focused Harry on his efforts to get the memory.
-Hello, HOTTIE alert with Cormac! Funny role.
-Nice shot of the trio at the end. It should always be the three of them.
Weaknesses
-Harry and Ginny. It was better than in the book, where Ginny was an utter bitch, but here she seems to be a bit personality free. Or maybe more than a bit, lol. Dan and Bonnie have absolutely no chemistry and aren't really trying to. It's not believable that Harry is jealous, perhaps because Dan is too busy doing actually important work, lol. I did like that it didn't slow Harry down in his mission, but this is clearly not the love story of the century. The kiss was lameeeeeeeeeeee. And her charging off after him in the Burrows attack might have been more compelling if she hadn't just STOOD there afterward like the dumb horror movie chick waiting for big bad Harry to rescue her.
-This is a flaw in the book that the movie can't overcome- Ron and Hermione come off as thoroughly unlikable and immature during their bitchfight (in the book, it's more Ron, in this case it's more Hermione since Ron isn't as cruel to her in the movie- the stupid bird stunt and Confunding Cormac therefore put her over the top here) and since Harry is more focused on what he needs to do, it comes across all the more clearly that these two are being brats while Harry is fighting for his life. They also delve so much into silliness that it's not very clear why they're useful characters in terms of the overall arc in HBP.
-I didn't mind the cuts as much as I thought I would- but I still minded them, particularly the lack of explanation about the ring. And while I appreciated any focus on the ring, why did that reaction happen? It shouldn't be a Horcrux anymore. They should have at least said Riddle had killed his father at that point. Some of the cuts to Harry and DD's lessons were jarring. Harry doesn't find out that Snape was the one who heard the prophecy. And I didn't notice it the way I did in OotP, but they still cut my two favorite lines. "No need to call me sir, Professor." "He called me Dumbledore's man through and through...I told him I was."
-I did not like Molly's "Harry who?" at ALL. He's supposed to be like a son to her. Dumb moment for humor.
-Not NEARLY enough Lupin, they robbed Thewlis of Lupin's reaction to DD dying, and they managed to make Lupin and Tonks even more senseless and jarring than in the books.
In Between
This is mainly for the special effects, because I appreciated the Gandolf-like ring of fire and the incredible depth of the water that indicated just how many people Voldemort had murdered to hide that Horcrux alone- but I don't think it was clear to movie goers what they were and the special effects didn't help. Also, Aragog shrunk by about 10 sizes since The Chamber of Secrets.
Thoughts, comments?