SECTUMSEMPRA!
A/N: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET.
I was as pre-pubescent as Harry, Ron and Hermione (I was a late bloomer, mmmkay?) when the first Harry Potter came out in 2001. Ever since that year, the excitement that came with knowing that another movie or book was about to be released had become a frequent visitor. I would have a book reserved weeks before copies hit the shelves. I would indulge myself with behind-the-scenes footages, TV spots, various trailer versions, fanfiction and phoots. I'd even re-read books with the hopes of realizing something new and getting lost in the magical wizarding world that Rowling has created more than a decade ago.
The year of the Half-Blood Prince was different. I avoided my yearly Potter indulgences, save for reading the sixth book yet again. It required conscious effort for me to resist watching new video links posted on Harry Potter communities. I wanted to make sure that the only HBP-related things I would see were posters and the official trailer/s. HBP definitely belongs to my Top 3 HP books and I wanted to surprise myself with how Yates, who did a pretty decent job with Order of the Phoenix, would treat the adaptation.
He absolutely did not disappoint. Yates left out quite a handful of chapters and pages but it was understandable since he had to squeeze 30 chapters in less than three hours. Had I been given the choice, I would have also taken out some of the scenes he cut, like the conversation between Cornelius Fudge and "The Other Prime Minister" for example. Since I'm getting really excited, and also losing my coherence, I'll just type down my thoughts in bullet points
THE AWESOME
- The color treatment was beautiful
- Visual effects?! BLOODY FANTASTIC
- Felix!Harry was hilarious and endearing. He did resemble Daniel in real life, which I guess explains why Felix!Harry just seemed to be so natural.
- Ron Weasley! Won-won! Can you be any more endearing and desirable? Oh, and yummy?
_ Speaking of "Won-won", this movie needs more Lavender Brown! Jessie Cave made the most out of her screentime, although I'm still jealous she got to MOMOL with Ron Weasley. Lucky bitch.
- RON/HERMIONE shippers will absolutely love this movie.Their actions and words may not be as subtle as the ones in the book, but hey, it worked for me and I'm sure it's going to work for other R/Hr shippers. I melted so many times. They so belong together, my goodness. YOU CANNOT FIGHT THE CANON. Er-my-knee!
- Shallow: Narcissa, though a bit older than I had imagined, looked so regal and beautiful. I loooooooved her dress at Spinner's End.
- Tonks calling Remus "sweetheart"
- "Oppungo!"
- Not so many cheesy, vomit-inducing Harry/Ginny moments. Sorry, not a fan.
- I actually liked Slughorn's character.
- Young Tom Riddle. OH WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW.
- Hey there, Cormac McLaggen. Come to me, Blaise Zabini. Rawr.
- Michael Gambon, thank you for being such a great Dumbledore. You brought him to life (now that was ironic).
- Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! Fred and George are so much love.
- The scene where Katie Bell got cursed may have only lasted seconds but it did not fail to give me goosebumps. The way her body shot up to the air was just mind- blowing
- The duel between Harry and Draco in the boy's lavatory. Wow.
- Helena Bonham Carter IS Bellatrix Lestrange.
- RON PLAYING QUIDDITCH. KYOOOOT.
- Snape seemed to be more human, like he actually had a heart, in HBP.I don't know how Alan Rickman managed to make Snape's character open up a bit and yet still remain so cold and distant. It's actually a great way of establishing how Snape will be like in the seventh movie.
- DRACO MALFOY, YOU COWARD BOY, LET'S GET MARRIED SO I CAN PROTECT YOU AND STOP YOU FROM TREMBLING. COME AWAY WITH ME TO THE LIGHT SIDE.
- The moment Harry and Dumbledore Apparated to find the Horcrux, I started to cry because I could already imagine what was bound to happen. Or so I thought. The scenes portraying the hunt for the Horcrux went beyond my imagination. Superb acting from Daniel and Michael Gambon. Thank you for breaking my heart. I mean it. I cried so much over the book I was scared I wouldn't be that affected as Dumbledore drank the potion but I ended up bawling like a baby.
- The Inferi gave me a mothereffin heart attack.
- "Severus..Please" (need I say more?)
THE WHOT
- Was it just me or were there some sexual puns/implications during Harry/Ginny encounters?
- Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright have ZERO CHEMISTRY IT HURTS.
- NEEDS.MORE.REMUS/TONKS.
- No Tom Riddle backstory? I was so curious to see the Gaunt household but I guess adding those chapters would lengthen the movie.
- No Bill and Fleur? Oh, shamone.
- I was hoping that the way Yates treated the face-off at the Astronomy Tower involving Dumbledore and Malfoy would be more faithful to the book .
- Where was Scrimgeour? I wanted to see how he and Harry would argue. No "Dumbledore's man through and through"
- CAN THE SEVENTH MOVIE COME OUT NOW? PLEASE?
- Not a lot of action in the school corridors, eh?
- ASAN NA YUNG "I LOVE YOU HERMIONE" ANO BA.
- They left out the last chapter of the book.
I can forgive some of the WHOTS in HBP because I'm pretty sure they'll be making
up for everything with Deathly Hallows (Come on, they're thinking of splitting DH into two movies, you can tell that they don't want to leave anything out this time). Regardless, it was very well-directed, the musical score was a pleasure to listen to, although (and I think this should be included in the list of WHOTS) I wanted to hear The Phoenix' song at the end.
I admire Yates for being able to stitch everything together despite the handful of changes and inconsistencies with the book, but that's just my inner Pottergeek speaking. Had I been a more distant viewer, less of a Pottergeek, I would have appreciated this movie as it is. Yates brought the heart, the very essence of every character which makes a viewer sympathize and empathize quite easily, Potter fan or not. Is it better than Prisoner of Azkaban? Not really, but it's the best since Cuaron's adaptation.
Do you have to watch the previous movies to fully understand Half-Blood Prince? Not really since the whole movie pretty much explains events, past, present or future, pretty well.
Now that I've seen the movie, it's time to indulge myself with all the videos, trailers, fanfics, fan videos, photos, .gifs that I want. I'll be reading the seventh book and research on Horcuxes yet again. It's a worthwhile thing to do as I wait for the Deathly Hallows, the final installment, to come out.
You know what, despite not wanting the series to end, I still can't wait!
I was as pre-pubescent as Harry, Ron and Hermione (I was a late bloomer, mmmkay?) when the first Harry Potter came out in 2001. Ever since that year, the excitement that came with knowing that another movie or book was about to be released had become a frequent visitor. I would have a book reserved weeks before copies hit the shelves. I would indulge myself with behind-the-scenes footages, TV spots, various trailer versions, fanfiction and phoots. I'd even re-read books with the hopes of realizing something new and getting lost in the magical wizarding world that Rowling has created more than a decade ago.
The year of the Half-Blood Prince was different. I avoided my yearly Potter indulgences, save for reading the sixth book yet again. It required conscious effort for me to resist watching new video links posted on Harry Potter communities. I wanted to make sure that the only HBP-related things I would see were posters and the official trailer/s. HBP definitely belongs to my Top 3 HP books and I wanted to surprise myself with how Yates, who did a pretty decent job with Order of the Phoenix, would treat the adaptation.
He absolutely did not disappoint. Yates left out quite a handful of chapters and pages but it was understandable since he had to squeeze 30 chapters in less than three hours. Had I been given the choice, I would have also taken out some of the scenes he cut, like the conversation between Cornelius Fudge and "The Other Prime Minister" for example. Since I'm getting really excited, and also losing my coherence, I'll just type down my thoughts in bullet points
THE AWESOME
- The color treatment was beautiful
- Visual effects?! BLOODY FANTASTIC
- Felix!Harry was hilarious and endearing. He did resemble Daniel in real life, which I guess explains why Felix!Harry just seemed to be so natural.
- Ron Weasley! Won-won! Can you be any more endearing and desirable? Oh, and yummy?
_ Speaking of "Won-won", this movie needs more Lavender Brown! Jessie Cave made the most out of her screentime, although I'm still jealous she got to MOMOL with Ron Weasley. Lucky bitch.
- RON/HERMIONE shippers will absolutely love this movie.Their actions and words may not be as subtle as the ones in the book, but hey, it worked for me and I'm sure it's going to work for other R/Hr shippers. I melted so many times. They so belong together, my goodness. YOU CANNOT FIGHT THE CANON. Er-my-knee!
- Shallow: Narcissa, though a bit older than I had imagined, looked so regal and beautiful. I loooooooved her dress at Spinner's End.
- Tonks calling Remus "sweetheart"
- "Oppungo!"
- Not so many cheesy, vomit-inducing Harry/Ginny moments. Sorry, not a fan.
- I actually liked Slughorn's character.
- Young Tom Riddle. OH WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW.
- Hey there, Cormac McLaggen. Come to me, Blaise Zabini. Rawr.
- Michael Gambon, thank you for being such a great Dumbledore. You brought him to life (now that was ironic).
- Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! Fred and George are so much love.
- The scene where Katie Bell got cursed may have only lasted seconds but it did not fail to give me goosebumps. The way her body shot up to the air was just mind- blowing
- The duel between Harry and Draco in the boy's lavatory. Wow.
- Helena Bonham Carter IS Bellatrix Lestrange.
- RON PLAYING QUIDDITCH. KYOOOOT.
- Snape seemed to be more human, like he actually had a heart, in HBP.I don't know how Alan Rickman managed to make Snape's character open up a bit and yet still remain so cold and distant. It's actually a great way of establishing how Snape will be like in the seventh movie.
- DRACO MALFOY, YOU COWARD BOY, LET'S GET MARRIED SO I CAN PROTECT YOU AND STOP YOU FROM TREMBLING. COME AWAY WITH ME TO THE LIGHT SIDE.
- The moment Harry and Dumbledore Apparated to find the Horcrux, I started to cry because I could already imagine what was bound to happen. Or so I thought. The scenes portraying the hunt for the Horcrux went beyond my imagination. Superb acting from Daniel and Michael Gambon. Thank you for breaking my heart. I mean it. I cried so much over the book I was scared I wouldn't be that affected as Dumbledore drank the potion but I ended up bawling like a baby.
- The Inferi gave me a mothereffin heart attack.
- "Severus..Please" (need I say more?)
THE WHOT
- Was it just me or were there some sexual puns/implications during Harry/Ginny encounters?
- Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright have ZERO CHEMISTRY IT HURTS.
- NEEDS.MORE.REMUS/TONKS.
- No Tom Riddle backstory? I was so curious to see the Gaunt household but I guess adding those chapters would lengthen the movie.
- No Bill and Fleur? Oh, shamone.
- I was hoping that the way Yates treated the face-off at the Astronomy Tower involving Dumbledore and Malfoy would be more faithful to the book .
- Where was Scrimgeour? I wanted to see how he and Harry would argue. No "Dumbledore's man through and through"
- CAN THE SEVENTH MOVIE COME OUT NOW? PLEASE?
- Not a lot of action in the school corridors, eh?
- ASAN NA YUNG "I LOVE YOU HERMIONE" ANO BA.
- They left out the last chapter of the book.
I can forgive some of the WHOTS in HBP because I'm pretty sure they'll be making
up for everything with Deathly Hallows (Come on, they're thinking of splitting DH into two movies, you can tell that they don't want to leave anything out this time). Regardless, it was very well-directed, the musical score was a pleasure to listen to, although (and I think this should be included in the list of WHOTS) I wanted to hear The Phoenix' song at the end.
I admire Yates for being able to stitch everything together despite the handful of changes and inconsistencies with the book, but that's just my inner Pottergeek speaking. Had I been a more distant viewer, less of a Pottergeek, I would have appreciated this movie as it is. Yates brought the heart, the very essence of every character which makes a viewer sympathize and empathize quite easily, Potter fan or not. Is it better than Prisoner of Azkaban? Not really, but it's the best since Cuaron's adaptation.
Do you have to watch the previous movies to fully understand Half-Blood Prince? Not really since the whole movie pretty much explains events, past, present or future, pretty well.
Now that I've seen the movie, it's time to indulge myself with all the videos, trailers, fanfics, fan videos, photos, .gifs that I want. I'll be reading the seventh book and research on Horcuxes yet again. It's a worthwhile thing to do as I wait for the Deathly Hallows, the final installment, to come out.
You know what, despite not wanting the series to end, I still can't wait!