My Harry Potter rant
I went to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night, and I was seriously excited, I had even booked the tickets in advance to have the best possible seats. But I have to say, I was really disappointed. Not in the seats- they were indeed great, but in at least half on the movie itself. I know a 600-pages book is hard to fit in a movie, even if 3 hours long, but I really feel like they've left stuff out and dealt badly with other stuff they decided to keep.
First of all, we see Harry at a diner in a train station, thinking of hitting on the waitress. What the hell?? Harry is always described as really shy when it comes to girls, he did a mess with Cho, and the only time he got the guts to express his feelings was when he kissed Ginny. And then he sees Dumbledore at the station, he's come to pick him up without any warning, as if Harry were a postal package. And anyone who's read the books knows how Dumbledore's always been very careful that Harry was informed on what was going to happen. In the movie, after they go to Slughorn Dumbledore casually mentions he's not going back to the Dursleys but at the Burrow. Gah. Plus I honestly think in the time they showed them at the station they could have fitted a nice short scene with the Dursleys, it'd have been hilarious, in the book it's a great scene.
Then Harry gets at the Burrow, and of course no one knows he's coming, Ginny just casually sees Hedwig and figures out he's there. Because of course that's how Dumbledore would do it, especially in a time of war as the one book 6 is set. Just drop casually Harry over there. And they don't even mention the profecy!!! Book 5 ended with Harry listening to it but not sharing it with Ron and Hermione, and in book 6 Dumbledore tells him to share its contents with them. They don't mention it once. Like Sirius' death as well. He's dead and that's it, Harry doesn't even remember Sirius. Wtf???
And the Diagon Alley scene- the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes scene was great I have to say- of course Harry, Ron and Hermione are wandering around randomly alone. Because that's exactly how it's done in warfare, sure. No Invisibility Cloak or anything. Plus, they got it all wrong with Malfoy!!! In the book he goes to Borgins & Burkes alone, ditching his mom somehow. Instead in the movie it was not only Draco and Mommy, but all the death eaters, and it looked like they were giving him the Dark Mark or something. And that's just plain wrong, I hated it.
Even the scene on the Hogwarts Express bothered me, Harry used the powder to get darkness, but I didn't like it. Just like I didn't like Luna finding him, I know she's a nice, funny character but I love Tonks so much and I really missed her.
The thing that really bothered me, like, a lot, was the way they handled Dumbledore's lessons to Harry and the way Harry behaved with Slughorn. In the book it's so funny to see Harry avoiding Slug's dinners with any excuse, he even schedies Quidditch practice on the exact same nights. In the movie, instead, Harry is sucking Slug up so muchI was afraid he'd become a cristallized pineapple himself. That's not like Harry at all. And my friends who hadn't read the book were all like "Wow, Harry's become an insufferable brown-nosing guy, I hate him" and that drove me mad 'cos that's the exact opposite.
And when Dumbledore was showing Harry the memories, he tells Harry everything. While in the book he wants Harry to understand it on his own, doesn't give away the solution like that. I know it's because of time issues but I didn't like it.
And then, suddenly, the Burrow is on fire. Sure, 'cos Bella would do that exactly, piss Voldemort off by wandering around destroying everything, with the risk of being caught. Plus, why?? Why destroy the Burrow, when it wasn't in the book? There's already enough violence and injured and dead people as it is, no need to add it just because it's spectacular. In the time they showed that useless scene, with Harry running around randomly, they could have shown another memory, they showed just 2 of them all and didn't even explain everything. They didn't say the Horcruxes were important objects to Voldemort, even at the end, when Harry got the fake one, they didn't explain what it was supposed to be, the story of the 4 foundators of Hogwarts. Gah.
I have to say, I really liked the scene of Harry and Dumbledore in the cave, it was spectacular and scary just like I imagined it to be. Of course they didn't explain what Inferi were, but they were really scary to me so that's ok.
I read around about Harry/Ginny fans being upset with this movie, and now I understand why. I've never been a supporter but I really feel they've been treated badly. The kiss was... normal. It wasn't in the moment of triumph after winning the Quidditch Cup, it wasn't Harry kissing her, but they were randomly in the Room of Necessities and she kissed him. Which is exactly the opposite of what the kiss is about, in the book it feels like Harry has finally grown, after Cho's disaster and he's ready to take a step forward. Instead he stayed there with his eyes closed, like a schoolboy, and she kissed him. And then they randomly mention it later when Hermione says "As long as you don't snog in public, Ron's cool with that". Just like that. Even the moment when Hermione was crying because of Ron and Lavender, there was something that bothered me: she and Harry were discussing their relationships openly, she asked him how he felt about Ginny, openly admitting she liked Ron. Which is something that in truth happens at the end of book 7.
One think I liked was Dumbledore's death. It was well done, scary and moving, and I loved Draco's troubles and his pain. But at the end, when Snape tells him he's the Half Blood Prince, there are no explanations. Just, I am that. Period. No explanations on why half-blood, or even a mention to the fact that Prince was his mom's last name.
And then, why, WHY do you have to show Draco's attempts with the vanishing cabinet 10 minutes after the beginning of the movie?? And why should Mr Weasley suspect of a Vanishing Cabinet? If he did suspect it, wouldn't he say it to Dulbledore at once? Come on, that's totally out of the blue.
So, once again, the movie was great as in special effects and in the mood it sets, and I really like the actors, especially Emma Watson, I think she's a great Hermione (the Potions scene with her hair bushier at every scene was hilarious). And I understand that this is a movie adaptation of a book, it doesn't have to be exactly the same.
But I really feel like they haven't done justice to the movie and left out too many important moments, to focus on other stuff but with a wrong angle. I'm sorry to say this because I really love the saga but I'm not happy with what I've seen.