Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Jul 15, 2009 23:54

[mood|
cheerful]
[music| "Tom Felton's Kinda Hot" - Draco and the Malfoys]

Alrighty. So I just got back from seeing HBP and, like I promised, I am writing a review/my thoughts on the film.

A warning, though: this post will be chock full of spoilers, so if you don't want anything ruined, don't even bother stopping by. ALSO: if I hear one more person complain about the film or talk about how great the chemistry was between DanRad and Emma, I will shank you. Without question. Although my reasons as to why I will cut you are going to be explained in this post. But you know; warning you all because that 700+ comments post on _twat about how disappointing the movie was annoyed the ever-loving shit out of me. negl.

But anyways, on with the post:

Before I get into the movie itself, let me just clarify a few things for you all.

In case you are unaware, I write Harry Potter fanfiction under the author name Alexandria Malfoy. The ship I consistently write for is a non-canon pairing, Draco/Ginny. Be that as it may, though, I tend to go back and re-read sections of the book so I can get a better idea of how I want to set up a story or if I need a refresher on a particular characterization. That being said, I've probably re-read parts of Half Blood Prince more times than I can count because that's where a lot of Draco's characterization lies, so it's safe to say that I know the book rather well (or I like to think that I do).

Also, keep in mind that this was a movie adaptation of a book. And, as is the case in these situations, the writers and director of the movie cut out parts of the plot that might not pertain to the overall story. Especially in a series like Harry Potter where something that might have been mentioned in one book gains a whole new meaning later on in the series, so it can be rather tricky to decide what should be cut and what should not be while retaining some sort of consistency with the other films and staying true to the bulk of the book. And as a huge HP fan (my friends know not to argue with me about HP because 9 times out of 10, I'm right. I'm even known on _twat as a huge HP fan and will often get paged during HP discussions), I understand that there are just some things that need to be cut if they want to stick to a time limit of under 3 hours per film.

But does that mean that I'm always satisfied with a film? Not really. The last time I was incredibly pleased with an HP film was Prisoner of Azkaban because all griping aside about the fact that they took out so much and omg whine and complain, Alfonso Cuaron did something that I was waiting for with the HP films since Sorcerer's Stone: he made it seem real. Stepping out of the theater after seeing PoA, I felt that something like the HP world was possible because it didn't seem too outlandish or peculiar to find a world like wizarding England intertwined with that of Muggle England. And for that, I am forever grateful to Alfonso Cuaron.

When I sat down in my seat at the theater, I was shaking with excitement. Literally. My hands were all jittery and I couldn't sit still, I was that excited. I had been hearing wonderful things about the movie and how fabulous my bb, Tom, was in it, so I pretty much died when I saw that WB logo pop up on the screen.

I've decided that I don't want to do too detailed of a review because I might be seeing it again on Sunday with thatphotograph, so I might write another one if I see it for a second time.

My overall impression of the film, though, was that it was absolutely fantastic. The cinematography was gorgeous and to the people who keep comparing the gray filter used on the HBP film to the blue filter used on Twilight, they're not even close. The blue filter was used in Twilight mainly to help out the shitty makeup job they did and so everything looked even more washed out than it already was. The filter used in HBP made the colors richer and gave it a sense of depth, and I'm not just saying that because I can't stand Twilight. And the effects were the best I've seen them in the films. Especially during the sequence where Dumbledore takes Harry to the cave to retrieve the fake necklace/horcrux.

The performances by the cast were the best that I've seen them. Tom Felton blew my mind as Draco. And again, I'm not just saying that because I have a soft spot for both Tom and Draco; he really did create a genius representation of his character. And keep in mind that Draco really does not have a lot of lines in this film, but any time you saw him, you felt the emotions running through Draco and you began to pity him for his internal struggle. From his mannerisms to the way he spoke each line, my god; Tom was positively superb in this film. I was in tears when he confronted Dumbledore on the North Tower and he brandished his Dark Mark (which is not canon, by the way. JKR was rather vague about Draco receiving the Dark Mark. It is always hinted at and assumed, but she never does come right out and say that he was branded, but for the purpose of the film, I thought it worked) before he breaks down, confessing to Dumbledore that if he doesn't kill Dumbledore, than Voldemort will kill him. The Sectumsempra scene nearly killed me because that's when you see him just lose it because he's cracking under the pressure. I mean, for fuck's sake, Draco's only 16 in HBP and for much of the movie, you see him acting like an adult, mostly due to the fact that his father's in prison, so he's become the "man of the house". But as soon as he started crying, I lost it. I really felt for him, you know? (Brief fangirl moment: OH SWEET JESUS. THANK GOD FOR BLACK SUITS AND BRILLIANT TAILORING.)

As to the scenes they cut out: 1) please refer to my above statements regarding movie adaptations, and 2) the things they cut really weren't imperative to the series as a whole. Harry researching the whole half blood prince thing? Yeah, that wasn't in there, but honestly? I wasn't too miffed by it. Snape says, "I am the half blood prince," but it was a bit of character development that really wasn't important to the overall series. In my opinion, the best character development Snape ever gets is in Deathly Hallows because it explains EVERYTHING. Adding in the Burrow being burnt to a crisp? Heart-wrenching for sure, but I liked it because it showed Ginny's affection for Harry. When he runs away from the flame circle Bellatrix creates, Ginny's running after him, regardless of her parents cries for her to come back. The reasoning behind Tonks's hair being brown/her and Remus suddenly being a couple? It would've been nice, but she's only in one scene, same with Remus, in the entire film and, as long as they keep her and Remus having Teddy (and showing Andromeda, the other hella fierce Black sister), then I'm fine. Changing when Harry kisses Ginny for the first time? Yeah, I didn't mind because Ginny was super cute in the movie when she decides to kiss Harry. I was all, "Smooth, Ginny. Real smooth." (In a good way.)

Now, I'd like to address some other things. Mainly the H/Hr shipping that I've been seeing due to this movie's release. First and foremost, STOP LETTING YOUR FANON SHIPS OVERSHADOW WHAT IS CANON/MAKE YOU THINK THAT CHARACTERS HAD "MOMENTS" WHEN THEY DIDN'T. Like I said before, I ship Draco/Ginny, which is a fanon ship, but did I think that they had any moments in the film(s)? No. They most certainly did not and they never have. But when I see people going on about how Harry and Hermione had so many moments in support of their ship, I want to smack them before telling them that it's bad when the author of the series that you love considers you delusional for shipping H/Hr. Because I was on the look out for those "moments", not even gonna lie. And I found TWO; honestly one, but I'm being nice. Number of Ron/Hermione moments? MORE TIMES THAN I COULD COUNT. Ready?

- Who's been staying with the Weasleys all summer? Oh, that's right. HERMIONE.
- Who put a Confundus charm on Cormac so Ron could make the Gryffindor Quidditch team? HERMIONE.
- Who left the post-game party against Slytherin because Lavender started making out with Ron? HERMIONE.
- Who was crying in a stairwell because Ron's pig-headed berk when it comes to girls? HERMIONE.
- Brief possible H/Hr moment: Harry comforting Hermione. She's crying, he sits down next to her, she asks him, "Is this how you feel when you see Ginny with Dean?", she uses his shoulder to cry on as she sees Lavender scamp off with Ron before Harry says, "Yeah. It feels exactly like this." Who was Harry thinking of? Oh yeah; that's right. GINNY.
- Who walked away from the compartment on the train Harry and Ron were sitting in when she saw R + L surrounded by a heart smudged onto the door of the compartment? HERMIONE.
- Who said, "Excuse me while I go throw up," when Lavender gave Ron his Won-Won necklace? HERMIONE.
- Who told Harry that the only reason why she asked Cormac (Brief fangirl moment: that scene where Cormac licks his fingers/lips. OMG. I JIZZED IN MY PANTS.) to Slughorn's Christmas party was because she wanted to make Ron jealous? HERMIONE.
- Who's name did Ron moan in delirium while in the hospital, being treated for poison, while Lavender was there? HERMIONE FUCKING JANE GRANGER.
- Final brief possible H/Hr moment: at the end when Harry shows Hermione the fake locket (Ron's sitting behind them) and they get a little too close. Then I was like, "Maybe." But jesus; there were more R/Hr moments than H/Hr moments. Seriously, people. OPEN YOUR EYES.

Other fangirly moments:

Dear Louis Cordice, a.k.a. Blaise Zabini,

PLEASE TO BE GETTING IN MY PANTS NOW. YOU DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING THE ENTIRE FILM. YOU LAUGHED ONCE AT DRACO (Good move. ;) ), PLAYED SOME QUIDDITCH AGAINST MY FIERCE AS HALE BB, GINNY, AND JUST STOOD THERE AND LOOKED PRETTY THE REST OF THE TIME. AND I WAS TOTALLY FINE WITH THAT BECAUSE JKR IS LAME AND DOESN'T SEE THE BEAUTY OF YOUR CHARACTER/DOESN'T REALIZE HOW AWESOME YOUR BACKSTORY IS SO THAT MEANS I CAN HAVE MORE FUN WHEN I WRITE YOUR CHARACTER IN FANFICTION.

Think about it.

In lust,
Mia

Luna was freaking FABULOUS and I love Evanna Lynch sfm. Matt Lewis was precious as always, although I wish they gave him more lines, but it's okay because, come 7th and 8th movies, it's all, I'M NEVILLE MOTHERFUCKING LONGBOTTOM, BITCH. So I'm excited. :D Um, Helen McCroy as my love, Narcissa, was a bit of a fail. Not even gonna lie. I don't know if it was the camera angle, but her face was titled so high up to the point of ridiculousness. And I needed to see more of her. A couple of times is not enough to fully get the ~fierceness that is Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. Oh, and I love HBIC Helen Bonham Carter. Forever and always.

I think that's about it. If I think of more things, then I'll post. But those were just my first impressions written in a more coherent manner other than ZOMG IT WAS SO AMAZING. :')

This post was brought to you by this GQMF, who is actually in the August GQ:


Here's the full size because the little blurb they do on him is hysterical: http://feltbeats.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=4112&fullsize=1

I hope you all enjoyed this post and I'm sure most of you have seen HBP already, so feel free to chat with me about it. :)

Hope you all had lovely days! ♥ :D

xoxox

fandom, cheerful, harry potter, half-blood prince

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