I stayed home from work today because I woke up with a pretty bad cold. However, whenever I’m sick, Corey gets it in his head that he needs to get me out of the house. He thinks I’ll get over whatever I have more quickly. I agree most of the time, but not all the time. Today, I did agree. ;) We decided to go see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
As I said in the post Recanting a Former Complaint, I’m trying to be more forgiving of movies that started out as a book. As I watched Half-Blood Prince, I tried to keep an open mind. I do have some complaints, but there were a lot of things I liked about it as well.
As far as whether Half-Blood Prince is the best movie yet, I don’t really have an opinion on that. I have a hard time choosing between the movies because they’re just portrayals of the stories, my favorite being Azkaban, even though Deathly Hallows is my favorite book. And, unfortunately, the movie for Azkaban disappointed me so much I have no way to base an opinion on which movie is the best.
I want this post to end on a happy note so I’m going to get my complaints out of the way first. ;)
- I didn’t like the scene that was completely made up. It occurs while the characters are at the Burrow for Christmas. I understand why the director and screenplay writer thought it might be necessary, but they needed to leave the fight between the Order members and the Death Eaters where it belonged, at the end. Instead, you see Harry and Ginny chasing after Bellatrix, almost being eaten by Fenrir, and being joined by Lupin, Tonks, and Arthur. After which, the Weasleys’s house blows up of all things! What the crap was that?
- The ending was too neat in my opinion. I missed seeing the battle between the students, the staff, and the Death Eaters. I didn’t like how the Death Eaters just left without any type of scuffle. It seemed unrealistic.
- I didn’t like that Dumbledore didn’t go more into the Horcruxes. Even though he didn’t know what all the Horcruxes were in the book, he had ideas and he passed them onto Harry, giving him a head start. No such head start in the movie.
- I also didn’t like that we didn’t see the Dursleys. What was with Harry being in the subway? That just seemed so out of place and inconsistent with the other movies and the books, especially since Dumbledore was out in public without Muggle clothes.
- My biggest disappointment in the movie was what I was looking forward to the most. One of the reasons I love Half-Blood Prince is all the one-on-one time Harry gets with Dumbledore. I felt cheated, especially since I knew what was going to happen at the end.
Now, for the things I liked. :D
- The special effects were awesome!
- The actors did a superb job. I’ve always thought that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were cast perfectly and they didn’t disappoint me this time either.
- I especially loved the scenes involving the budding romances between Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny. They just seemed so awkward and that’s how I imagined them as I read the book.
- I loved the little nuances with Snape to help the viewer know what to expect in the future. They almost seemed too obvious to me, but then again, I know what happens.
- I loved the Quidditch trials and the Quidditch match. It helped reinforce my love of Ron’s character.
- My favorite scene in the entire movie was the cave. It captured what I had conjured in my imagination completely (other than Harry falling in the water and the Inferi looking more like Gollum than dead people, but I can live with those).
Even though I have a lot of complaints, overall, I liked the movie and I thought it was well done. I’ll definitely buy it and I wouldn’t even mind seeing it in the theater again.
Because Corey hasn’t read any of the books, I always ask him what he thought of the movie and what he thinks will happen in future ones. I was especially curious after this movie because I formed my theories after reading Half-Blood Prince. Corey thinks Harry’s a Horcrux, Dumbledore will come back in Deathly Hallows because he has a Horcrux for Harry to destroy, and Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders to solidify his “in” with Voldemort.
I’m with you on all of your thought! I especially wished they had included the battle in Hogwarts at the end. That seems pretty important, doesn’t it? And giving Harry a lead on the Horcruxes too, I wish Dumbledore had done that. One of the biggest things I would have liked to see was more on Snape. They never showed him teaching Defense, and when he killed Dumbledore and ran away, he just seemed more regretful and subdued than he does in the book, where he seems much more angry. I think Snape is one of her best and most complex characters, and while he’s not a likable person, I love his character.
Ashley, I agree. I think Snape was a little too subdued as well. I think they were trying to show too much insight into the next movie. That’s why I thought he’s was a little too obvious. But, at the same time, I didn’t mind it in the movie because they don’t always explain those things thoroughly enough. You know what I mean?
I agree with you too! I loved it, but what the crap was that scene? I was so confused! I think they’ll go in more depth about horcruxes in the next movie, but it was a little odd that that was the first Dumbledore heard of a horcrux but yet he had already destroyed one, knew that Harry had destroyed another, and knew where the next one was…hmmm… and I actually didn’t picture the cave scene anything like that, but that’s just me. It seemed really crystalized. Anyway, I just got back from it and I’m sad al over again that Dumbledore died and it makes me want to read the 7th book again….
I was also bummed about leaving out the battle, funeral and the attack on the burrow—but what are you going to do? Plus, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it has to do with how they are going to stage the second movie. And, J.K. has to have finally approval of the script, so she knew of the changes; if she’s thinks the changes are okay, then who am I to argue? (Oh, wait, I’m a fan) :)
Greg seems to think that they’ll put the funeral at the beginning of the next movie. I don’t know about that one.
Books have the opportunity to intertwine the plot with numerous subplots; movies can only survive with a couple subplots before it becomes too confusing for the audience.
You have to take the movies as a whole away from the book and judge them according to how they are created, not what they are created from. The cinematography was breath-taking and the acting was superb (I agree with you on Dan, Emma, Rupert, and Bonnie). I also thought that Jim Broadbent was perfect as Slughorn; he was completely how I imagined him, maybe a little chubbier, but personality-wise— fantastic. It was truly a wonderfully crafted piece of film.
Even though they didn’t show Snape teach, I thought Rickman’s portrayal went to another level. As an actor, he finally knew the motivation for all of his actions; he finally knew the desires of his heart and I think it showed. I think that’s why he seemed more ‘subdued’ and ‘regretful’ because, in the end, he was. He’s such a marvelous character and Alan Rickman truly knows how to bring him to life. Michael Gambon also did a wonderful job as Dumbledore; I lasted until Harry came back to see his body—then I started to cry.
Remember he only ‘guessed’ about what Riddle had done to the ring and diary. He destroyed the ring with the assumption of what it probably was—he didn’t know for sure until the true memory from Slughorn.
I agree with you on Quidditch; it was brilliant! It seemed more like a sport to me and less like a flying lesson.
You have to step back and go, does this movie give me the same feeling it did when I read the book? Not, is the movie just like the book in every way?
If you answer yes to the first question, then the movie did its job.
Oh, I didn’t realize how long my comment was— my bad. ;)
Still haven’t seen it, but I promised my daughter we’d go. so I need to get with it. And despite the things you didn’t love about it, your post made me more excited to go.
And that Corey, he’s a smart one isn’t he? When is Fro-Yo opening? I can’t wait to do a review about it on my blog.