More on HBP: Oh the Humanity!
OK, my whole review & English-major-type breakdown of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.
I said before that I think this is one of, if not THE, best Harry Potter film so far. I think this was a combination of several things, including pace, acting, mood & direction. While I won't go into all these things, I will express my main reasons for liking this movie.
Obviously anyone who had read the books knows the tumultuous way things begin to avalanche as we get further & further into the series. While the first couple books seemed to simply pit Harry against his nemesis Voldemort in some shape or form, there was no other connection between the events. But now into the 6th, next to last, in the series, we know there is a far deeper history that spans time & through numerous characters.
The result of this is that ever since the 3rd movie, they (the movies) have seemed rushed & filled with heart stopping action sequences that leave our hearts racing & blood pumping. Not so with HBP. It seemed to take a step away from the flashy scenes of action & opt for more simple character interaction. Mind you, this does not mean there were no action sequences at all. The scene where the weakened Dumbledore lays waste to the inferi by whipping giant flames around the cave where he & Harry sought the Horcux locket was certainly heart stopping. Not to mention when Bellatrix & Fenrir BLOW UP the Weasley home. This was shocking not only because it's not in the book, but to see such a place as the Burrow, one of the few places where Harry & others felt safe, be destroyed before their very eyes. It's harrowing to say the least.
However, even with all these events, the majority of the movie focused on what most 16-year-olds focus on: relationships. In this movie, we see far more of what lies between Ron & Hermione. This is true for Harry & Ginny too, but I just don't feel the two have very good on screen chemistry. It's more that I KNOW they get together than anything else. But Hermione's jealousy over Ron dating Lavender was incredibly tangible.
Of course there is the Half-Blood Prince. The movie's namesake. The Advanced Potions book where Harry finds this character's scriblings & begins to see as a quasi-mentor plays an integral role in the story, but this is very subtle in the movie. However, we always see Harry with the book & concern is shown by his friends about his seeming dependency upon it. Of course, in book or movie, the true importance of the connection is not revealed until the end when Snape admits himself to be the Half-Blood Prince & Harry feels this betrayal now on multiple levels. But Snape himself, above any other, is what makes the namesake of the movie so important. This particular installation couldn't have been called Harry Potter & that Mean Ol' Severus Snape, so Rowling did what she has done best with these books: hid the secret in plain sight. He kills Dumbledore, which is a catalyst, not just for Harry, but for the entire wizarding world both good & bad. Afterall, it is Snape who is possibly the most significant element in the entire war between Voldemort & Harry Potter.
So this movie allows us to delve a little deeper in the psyches of a few of the characters rather than simply show us big bangs & fancy special effects, I mean IT MADE ME FEEL SORRY FOR DRACO! Honestly, could he have been any more heartbreaking & adorably pathetic? The movie showed us things as they happened, like Draco fixing the Vanishing Cabinet & the Death Eaters entering Hogwarts, instead of just explaining it after all is said & done like they do in the book. But in the movie, we are more omnipotent, whereas the book is more from Harry's POV & we only know what he knows. So it was much easier to empathize with Draco & his plight: kill Dumbledore or be killed. Of course a noble Griffindor would choose death, but not everyone in the world can be a Griffindor. Draco is a self-preserving Slytherin, but that doesn't mean he's a cold-blooded killer. He hasn't the heart to commit such crimes, be it cowardice or even the possible good conscience & while it doesn't make him a hero, it does makes him human. And humanity is what this particular Harry Potter movie is about.
So um, just a few quick other things that I either really liked or disliked about the movie.
LIKED:
-- Jim Broadbent as Slughorn. They could not have cast a better person IMHO. I also found myself liking him far more than I did in the book, too. I felt sorry for him rather than found him annoying, seems to be a pattern here.
-- Luna. Like when she said Harry's broken nose gave him a "devil may care" air. Then when she fixed it told him he just looked completely ordinary. Or her comment about how she sleeps with her shoes on because she sleepwalks. Oh, Luna, that's why we love you.
-- Ron & Lavender. It just got more & more funny as it went on but my favorite was after Ron's poisoning recuperation, when he, Hermione & Harry sat in the Great Hall with Lavender murderously looking on. Then one mentioned "[Lavender] looks a little put out," they all turn to look & she's got a death grip on that huge spoon & staring daggers!
-- Felix Felicis Harry! OMG could he have gotten any more funny? His remarks were a quirky combination of sincere & sarcastic. PINCERS! clickclickclick! XD
-- McLaggen throwing up dragon balls (not the anime) on Snape's shoes. Perfect.
-- Snape silencing Harry during the scene Draco was threatening Dumbledore on the Astronomy tower. This wasn't in the book since Harry was both petrified & under his invisibility cloak. If I remember right I don't think Snape even knew Harry was there in the book. I think that made him killing Dumbledore just a little more powerful in the movie.
DISLIKED:
-- NEED MOAR WEASLEY TWINZ!! DX< I know Fred & George weren't even around the book much anyway since they weren't at Hogwarts anymore, but those two are my favorite of all the Weasleys. So this is really just me fangirling over them. X3
-- Ginny. Or at least who plays her. She's just kinda stiff, like her face can only do two emotions: slightly happy or not happy. AND WTF WAS WITH THE SHOE THING!? o_o
-- Leaving out Snape's "Don't call me a coward" line. Honestly, it would not have been hard to leave it in & it would be a very good aspect of the humanity thing I just went on about.
-- Aragog's death. I wasn't sad, cause I kinda forgot it had happened till my brother mentioned it just before we saw the movie. No, I don't like spiders, mainly because of their appearance. I'm glad it was short, cause it was just ew. (I will say Harry's pincer's remark totally made it worth it, though.)
So, agree? Disagree? Discuss...
I said before that I think this is one of, if not THE, best Harry Potter film so far. I think this was a combination of several things, including pace, acting, mood & direction. While I won't go into all these things, I will express my main reasons for liking this movie.
Obviously anyone who had read the books knows the tumultuous way things begin to avalanche as we get further & further into the series. While the first couple books seemed to simply pit Harry against his nemesis Voldemort in some shape or form, there was no other connection between the events. But now into the 6th, next to last, in the series, we know there is a far deeper history that spans time & through numerous characters.
The result of this is that ever since the 3rd movie, they (the movies) have seemed rushed & filled with heart stopping action sequences that leave our hearts racing & blood pumping. Not so with HBP. It seemed to take a step away from the flashy scenes of action & opt for more simple character interaction. Mind you, this does not mean there were no action sequences at all. The scene where the weakened Dumbledore lays waste to the inferi by whipping giant flames around the cave where he & Harry sought the Horcux locket was certainly heart stopping. Not to mention when Bellatrix & Fenrir BLOW UP the Weasley home. This was shocking not only because it's not in the book, but to see such a place as the Burrow, one of the few places where Harry & others felt safe, be destroyed before their very eyes. It's harrowing to say the least.
However, even with all these events, the majority of the movie focused on what most 16-year-olds focus on: relationships. In this movie, we see far more of what lies between Ron & Hermione. This is true for Harry & Ginny too, but I just don't feel the two have very good on screen chemistry. It's more that I KNOW they get together than anything else. But Hermione's jealousy over Ron dating Lavender was incredibly tangible.
Of course there is the Half-Blood Prince. The movie's namesake. The Advanced Potions book where Harry finds this character's scriblings & begins to see as a quasi-mentor plays an integral role in the story, but this is very subtle in the movie. However, we always see Harry with the book & concern is shown by his friends about his seeming dependency upon it. Of course, in book or movie, the true importance of the connection is not revealed until the end when Snape admits himself to be the Half-Blood Prince & Harry feels this betrayal now on multiple levels. But Snape himself, above any other, is what makes the namesake of the movie so important. This particular installation couldn't have been called Harry Potter & that Mean Ol' Severus Snape, so Rowling did what she has done best with these books: hid the secret in plain sight. He kills Dumbledore, which is a catalyst, not just for Harry, but for the entire wizarding world both good & bad. Afterall, it is Snape who is possibly the most significant element in the entire war between Voldemort & Harry Potter.
So this movie allows us to delve a little deeper in the psyches of a few of the characters rather than simply show us big bangs & fancy special effects, I mean IT MADE ME FEEL SORRY FOR DRACO! Honestly, could he have been any more heartbreaking & adorably pathetic? The movie showed us things as they happened, like Draco fixing the Vanishing Cabinet & the Death Eaters entering Hogwarts, instead of just explaining it after all is said & done like they do in the book. But in the movie, we are more omnipotent, whereas the book is more from Harry's POV & we only know what he knows. So it was much easier to empathize with Draco & his plight: kill Dumbledore or be killed. Of course a noble Griffindor would choose death, but not everyone in the world can be a Griffindor. Draco is a self-preserving Slytherin, but that doesn't mean he's a cold-blooded killer. He hasn't the heart to commit such crimes, be it cowardice or even the possible good conscience & while it doesn't make him a hero, it does makes him human. And humanity is what this particular Harry Potter movie is about.
So um, just a few quick other things that I either really liked or disliked about the movie.
LIKED:
-- Jim Broadbent as Slughorn. They could not have cast a better person IMHO. I also found myself liking him far more than I did in the book, too. I felt sorry for him rather than found him annoying, seems to be a pattern here.
-- Luna. Like when she said Harry's broken nose gave him a "devil may care" air. Then when she fixed it told him he just looked completely ordinary. Or her comment about how she sleeps with her shoes on because she sleepwalks. Oh, Luna, that's why we love you.
-- Ron & Lavender. It just got more & more funny as it went on but my favorite was after Ron's poisoning recuperation, when he, Hermione & Harry sat in the Great Hall with Lavender murderously looking on. Then one mentioned "[Lavender] looks a little put out," they all turn to look & she's got a death grip on that huge spoon & staring daggers!
-- Felix Felicis Harry! OMG could he have gotten any more funny? His remarks were a quirky combination of sincere & sarcastic. PINCERS! clickclickclick! XD
-- McLaggen throwing up dragon balls (not the anime) on Snape's shoes. Perfect.
-- Snape silencing Harry during the scene Draco was threatening Dumbledore on the Astronomy tower. This wasn't in the book since Harry was both petrified & under his invisibility cloak. If I remember right I don't think Snape even knew Harry was there in the book. I think that made him killing Dumbledore just a little more powerful in the movie.
DISLIKED:
-- NEED MOAR WEASLEY TWINZ!! DX< I know Fred & George weren't even around the book much anyway since they weren't at Hogwarts anymore, but those two are my favorite of all the Weasleys. So this is really just me fangirling over them. X3
-- Ginny. Or at least who plays her. She's just kinda stiff, like her face can only do two emotions: slightly happy or not happy. AND WTF WAS WITH THE SHOE THING!? o_o
-- Leaving out Snape's "Don't call me a coward" line. Honestly, it would not have been hard to leave it in & it would be a very good aspect of the humanity thing I just went on about.
-- Aragog's death. I wasn't sad, cause I kinda forgot it had happened till my brother mentioned it just before we saw the movie. No, I don't like spiders, mainly because of their appearance. I'm glad it was short, cause it was just ew. (I will say Harry's pincer's remark totally made it worth it, though.)
So, agree? Disagree? Discuss...