Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN THE MOVIE. Even if you've read the book but haven't seen the movie, don't read this.
I have a tradition on my livejournal that whenever a Harry Potter movie comes out I always write down everything I think, not in the form of a review but in dotpoints. I always start with the bad stuff first, just to get it out of the way so I can move on to the stuff I loved. And the fact that there were things wrong with it doesn't make it a bad movie, it just makes it Harry Potter. And it can't be Harry Potter unless there are a couple of things to nit-pick about the movies.
My main problem with Order of the Phoenix was that it was really, really rushed. They tried to cram loads of stuff into a really short time-frame. Everything from the part where Harry had the dream about Sirius to the part where they get to the ministry was awful. I think what they should've done is cut out all the stuff about how Umbridge catches them so they trick her into the forest and ride the thestrals to London. They should've just gone "Oh shit, Sirius is in trouble and there's only one fireplace at Hogwarts that isn't being watched". Alot of fans will be annoyed, but you cut out fifteen minutes of unnecessary boring crap and leave it free for better establishment of the so-called climax of the film. Oh, and maybe they should've cut out Grawp. He isn't really important in Deathly Hallows anyway.
My point is that the problems I had with Order of the Phoenix far outweighed the things I liked about it. Sure the first time I saw it I was giggling about the little things (even though there were some huge gaping holes that annoyed me) but the second time I watched it I just sat there going "...whoa...this whole movie sucks..."
That's not the way I felt about Half Blood Prince.
Two main things that bugged me about Half Blood Prince - but not enough to make me hate the movie
-Teenage Voldemort. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED kid Voldemort, but the teenage Voldemort who asked about Horcruxes was just plain awful. Voldemort has always been a charmer, and they did that really well in Chamber of Secrets. He was good-looking, friendly and had a talent for gaining people's trust. The only one who didn't trust him was Dumbledore, because he's freaking awesome. Teenage Voldemort in HBP was just so obviously evil it'd take a moron not to be suspicious. And we're watching it going "Slughorn, why are you telling him stuff? HE'S SO OBVIOUSLY A BAD GUY. HELLOOO!?" To Jim Broadbent's credit though, I think he realised this and acted freaked out during the entire scene. Go Jim Broadbent.
-Ginny. To be thorough, Ginny and Harry. But mostly Ginny. I've never minded her in the other movies, but this time it was like she was just reading her lines. I could tell that he was trying, but I really don't think she was. They just had no chemistry whatsoever. I believed Ron and Hermione. I never believed Harry and Ginny.
Things that I just had to nit-pick about Half Blood Prince that didn't really matter
-"Shoelace." I swear, there were at least eight people in the audience who said "What the fuck?" out loud.
-"We've got to hide this where no one will find it." Or you could ... I dunno... maybe.. destroy it? In the book, the only reason he hid it was out of desperation. It doesn't make sense to hide it after calculating all the pros and cons thoroughly. It's not a big deal, it just irked me a little. ^_^;;
-Daniel Radcliffe's acting in some parts - but then again it's like that in all the movies.
-Even though I loved the Snape/Harry scene at the end, I would've loved it if Snape had leaned over Harry at some point and whispered "Don't call me a coward" menacingly..
-I would've liked them to clarify a little more in the end that they're going on an epic quest at the very end of the movie. Kinda like the end of Pirates 2. In Pirates 2 they pumped you up for it and made you go AWW WHAT I WANT THE NEXT ONE NOW. I still felt that way but still, I'm a die-hard fan. ^_^;;
Things that I really liked
-The opening, with Harry and Dumbledore being photographed. They had me hooked right from that first shot.
-The thing with Harry and that girl in the beginning. I felt so bad for her when he had to disappear. I thought it was a really good move on the writer's part, and set the tone for the rest of the movie.
-The shameless Deathly Hallows foreshadowing, and the subtle ones too. There were some points - like when Dumbledore says "your blood is much more prescious than mine" (or something along those lines) where I was like AH-HAAAAAHH!!!11 FORESHADOWIIIIING!!1111
-McLaggen. He was hilarious. So sleazy. I love the part where he's sucking on his finger, and his comments about Hermione's mouth.
-Lavender. She was hilarious. Over-the-top, but not TOO over-the-top. She was really well cast.
-The cinematography, especially during the cave scene. The underwater shots were beautiful, and that shot of Dumbledore kicking arse with fire was fantastic.
-The part right before Dumbledore's death where Harry is below and Snape comes up to him and motions for him to be quiet. For me it was kinda like he was saying "Shut up and trust me."
-The part where Harry was chasing Snape and Snape kept deflecting his curses. The long shots they used were excellent.
-Harry on Felix Felicis. He was hilarious. I'm starting to think that Radcliffe makes a good comedy actor (just not a good dramatic one), because he was really good on Ricky Gervais's Extras.
-All of the Ron and Lavender scenes. They were so funny.
-The scene with Harry and Hermione at the bottom of the stairs where she's crying. Emma Watson gets better in every movie she's in. She did a fantastic job of that scene.
-The scene after Dumbledore dies and they all stick their wands in the air as a mark of respect. I thought that was really well done.
-"So did you and Ginny do it?"
-That scene where Harry's talking to Snape and Snape just walks away, like he's not even going to dignify that with an answer.
-Some people said they didn't like Dumbledore's death scene, but I did. Unlike Sirius's death there was a body to mourn over, and that shot of him falling was really good too. Dumbledore's last moments of life were really well done.
Things that I downright LOVED about Half Blood Prince
-Tom Felton's performance. I was shocked at how good he was. In all the movies before this he's just been the comic relief, but he really shone in this one as a dramatic actor. I loved alot of the scenes where he didn't say anything at all, and yet you really felt his fear. And I felt really sorry for him alot of the time. The scenes with the cabinet were really good - especially the one with the bird.
-Alan Rickman's performance. I loved him in this, seriously. Look at his expression when he finally kills Dumbledore. You can tell he's really pained inside but trying to mask it. he was also fantastic in the unbreakable vow scene.
-Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix. She's fantastic, and she really captures Bella's messed-up personality. I love the point where she kisses Draco - I think it was on his neck? - and he's so shaken by the Dumbledore thing he hardly reacts. It's like DUDE FUCKED UP HE'S YOUR NEPHEW but at the same time it's SO Bellatrix.
-Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn. His performance was fantastic. And he made the Horcruxes scene seem a little more plausible by how freaked out he looked during the whole thing.
-In the book, Harry comes back from the cave and sees the dark mark, and the attack happens and it's all a big surprise, and we find details out towards the end. That doesn't work cinematically, though. Throughout the movie we saw scenes with Draco and the cabinet, and we saw the Death Eaters get into the cabinet and into the school before Harry and Dumbledore came back. It built the suspense up really well and I was really proud of the screenwriter for that. During the five minutes leading up to Dumbledore's death, my heart was pounding like crazy. It was really well done.
-The chemistry between Ron and Hermione. There's definitely been something mutual there since the fourth movie, and it's been growing stronger and stronger. In Half Blood Prince it's at its strongest. I loved the little things they added in that weren't in the books, like Hermione's line about Ron snogging her in the Three Broomsticks, and Harry and Ron talking about Hermione's skin. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint do a really good job in this. I've always thought Ron and Hermione were the anti Harry and Ginny. Even in the parts where they're just in the background of the shot, they're subconsciously interacting with each other even by just sitting next to each other or avoiding each other's gaze.
It was romantic, it was sad, it was really funny and also full of suspense. Overall I've got to say that this is the best Harry Potter movie of the series.
What did you think?
I have a tradition on my livejournal that whenever a Harry Potter movie comes out I always write down everything I think, not in the form of a review but in dotpoints. I always start with the bad stuff first, just to get it out of the way so I can move on to the stuff I loved. And the fact that there were things wrong with it doesn't make it a bad movie, it just makes it Harry Potter. And it can't be Harry Potter unless there are a couple of things to nit-pick about the movies.
My main problem with Order of the Phoenix was that it was really, really rushed. They tried to cram loads of stuff into a really short time-frame. Everything from the part where Harry had the dream about Sirius to the part where they get to the ministry was awful. I think what they should've done is cut out all the stuff about how Umbridge catches them so they trick her into the forest and ride the thestrals to London. They should've just gone "Oh shit, Sirius is in trouble and there's only one fireplace at Hogwarts that isn't being watched". Alot of fans will be annoyed, but you cut out fifteen minutes of unnecessary boring crap and leave it free for better establishment of the so-called climax of the film. Oh, and maybe they should've cut out Grawp. He isn't really important in Deathly Hallows anyway.
My point is that the problems I had with Order of the Phoenix far outweighed the things I liked about it. Sure the first time I saw it I was giggling about the little things (even though there were some huge gaping holes that annoyed me) but the second time I watched it I just sat there going "...whoa...this whole movie sucks..."
That's not the way I felt about Half Blood Prince.
Two main things that bugged me about Half Blood Prince - but not enough to make me hate the movie
-Teenage Voldemort. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED kid Voldemort, but the teenage Voldemort who asked about Horcruxes was just plain awful. Voldemort has always been a charmer, and they did that really well in Chamber of Secrets. He was good-looking, friendly and had a talent for gaining people's trust. The only one who didn't trust him was Dumbledore, because he's freaking awesome. Teenage Voldemort in HBP was just so obviously evil it'd take a moron not to be suspicious. And we're watching it going "Slughorn, why are you telling him stuff? HE'S SO OBVIOUSLY A BAD GUY. HELLOOO!?" To Jim Broadbent's credit though, I think he realised this and acted freaked out during the entire scene. Go Jim Broadbent.
-Ginny. To be thorough, Ginny and Harry. But mostly Ginny. I've never minded her in the other movies, but this time it was like she was just reading her lines. I could tell that he was trying, but I really don't think she was. They just had no chemistry whatsoever. I believed Ron and Hermione. I never believed Harry and Ginny.
Things that I just had to nit-pick about Half Blood Prince that didn't really matter
-"Shoelace." I swear, there were at least eight people in the audience who said "What the fuck?" out loud.
-"We've got to hide this where no one will find it." Or you could ... I dunno... maybe.. destroy it? In the book, the only reason he hid it was out of desperation. It doesn't make sense to hide it after calculating all the pros and cons thoroughly. It's not a big deal, it just irked me a little. ^_^;;
-Daniel Radcliffe's acting in some parts - but then again it's like that in all the movies.
-Even though I loved the Snape/Harry scene at the end, I would've loved it if Snape had leaned over Harry at some point and whispered "Don't call me a coward" menacingly..
-I would've liked them to clarify a little more in the end that they're going on an epic quest at the very end of the movie. Kinda like the end of Pirates 2. In Pirates 2 they pumped you up for it and made you go AWW WHAT I WANT THE NEXT ONE NOW. I still felt that way but still, I'm a die-hard fan. ^_^;;
Things that I really liked
-The opening, with Harry and Dumbledore being photographed. They had me hooked right from that first shot.
-The thing with Harry and that girl in the beginning. I felt so bad for her when he had to disappear. I thought it was a really good move on the writer's part, and set the tone for the rest of the movie.
-The shameless Deathly Hallows foreshadowing, and the subtle ones too. There were some points - like when Dumbledore says "your blood is much more prescious than mine" (or something along those lines) where I was like AH-HAAAAAHH!!!11 FORESHADOWIIIIING!!1111
-McLaggen. He was hilarious. So sleazy. I love the part where he's sucking on his finger, and his comments about Hermione's mouth.
-Lavender. She was hilarious. Over-the-top, but not TOO over-the-top. She was really well cast.
-The cinematography, especially during the cave scene. The underwater shots were beautiful, and that shot of Dumbledore kicking arse with fire was fantastic.
-The part right before Dumbledore's death where Harry is below and Snape comes up to him and motions for him to be quiet. For me it was kinda like he was saying "Shut up and trust me."
-The part where Harry was chasing Snape and Snape kept deflecting his curses. The long shots they used were excellent.
-Harry on Felix Felicis. He was hilarious. I'm starting to think that Radcliffe makes a good comedy actor (just not a good dramatic one), because he was really good on Ricky Gervais's Extras.
-All of the Ron and Lavender scenes. They were so funny.
-The scene with Harry and Hermione at the bottom of the stairs where she's crying. Emma Watson gets better in every movie she's in. She did a fantastic job of that scene.
-The scene after Dumbledore dies and they all stick their wands in the air as a mark of respect. I thought that was really well done.
-"So did you and Ginny do it?"
-That scene where Harry's talking to Snape and Snape just walks away, like he's not even going to dignify that with an answer.
-Some people said they didn't like Dumbledore's death scene, but I did. Unlike Sirius's death there was a body to mourn over, and that shot of him falling was really good too. Dumbledore's last moments of life were really well done.
Things that I downright LOVED about Half Blood Prince
-Tom Felton's performance. I was shocked at how good he was. In all the movies before this he's just been the comic relief, but he really shone in this one as a dramatic actor. I loved alot of the scenes where he didn't say anything at all, and yet you really felt his fear. And I felt really sorry for him alot of the time. The scenes with the cabinet were really good - especially the one with the bird.
-Alan Rickman's performance. I loved him in this, seriously. Look at his expression when he finally kills Dumbledore. You can tell he's really pained inside but trying to mask it. he was also fantastic in the unbreakable vow scene.
-Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix. She's fantastic, and she really captures Bella's messed-up personality. I love the point where she kisses Draco - I think it was on his neck? - and he's so shaken by the Dumbledore thing he hardly reacts. It's like DUDE FUCKED UP HE'S YOUR NEPHEW but at the same time it's SO Bellatrix.
-Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn. His performance was fantastic. And he made the Horcruxes scene seem a little more plausible by how freaked out he looked during the whole thing.
-In the book, Harry comes back from the cave and sees the dark mark, and the attack happens and it's all a big surprise, and we find details out towards the end. That doesn't work cinematically, though. Throughout the movie we saw scenes with Draco and the cabinet, and we saw the Death Eaters get into the cabinet and into the school before Harry and Dumbledore came back. It built the suspense up really well and I was really proud of the screenwriter for that. During the five minutes leading up to Dumbledore's death, my heart was pounding like crazy. It was really well done.
-The chemistry between Ron and Hermione. There's definitely been something mutual there since the fourth movie, and it's been growing stronger and stronger. In Half Blood Prince it's at its strongest. I loved the little things they added in that weren't in the books, like Hermione's line about Ron snogging her in the Three Broomsticks, and Harry and Ron talking about Hermione's skin. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint do a really good job in this. I've always thought Ron and Hermione were the anti Harry and Ginny. Even in the parts where they're just in the background of the shot, they're subconsciously interacting with each other even by just sitting next to each other or avoiding each other's gaze.
It was romantic, it was sad, it was really funny and also full of suspense. Overall I've got to say that this is the best Harry Potter movie of the series.
What did you think?