Ah, Harry Potter.
The expectations are so high. We’ve had a very long time to read, re-read, and memorize entire scenes from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
Can the new movie deliver?
It would seem so, on many fronts.
The story is for the most part true to the book.
“For the most part”, in the way that Bush is smart, mostly, or that most people in New Zealand adored Helen Clark.
The basic storyline is the same, in that Harry Potter is working towards defeating Voldemort, having a romance, and watching his friends having romances. He also stalks Draco Malfoy for a goodly portion of the movie, in between watching memories obtained from Dumbledore, and then stalking Professor Slughorn.
In terms of new characters, Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, is excellent, and as in the previous movies, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman as Bellatrix Lestrange and Professor Snape give stand out performances.
Ralph Fiennes, who played Voldemort in the fourth, fifth and sixth movies, does not appear in this one but his nephew Hero Fiennes-Tiffin plays the young Tom Riddle.
There are too many actors to list here, but the cast list reads like a Who’s Who of the British acting world. See a full list at imdb.com
here.
The visual effects were fantastic as usual, and the level of detail in terms of this obviously well thought-out and enjoyable.
There is a great “You shall not pass” moment for Dumbledore, and a couple of Lord of the Rings-type sweeping camera-shots of the country side.
The “magic” is sufficient for suspense of disbelief, and the opening sequence was at least an exciting introduction.
The love stories are portrayed accurately, although I won’t ruin them for the three or so people who haven’t read the book- just trust me when I say they pull them off reasonably well, and the actors playing Harry, Ron and Hermione all pull off fresh and interesting performances of the characters they have portrayed for so long. The character of Lavender was surprisingly comic and a great performance by the actress Jessie Cave.
Apart from that, if you’ve read the books, I’m sorry to report you are going to be disappointed.
If you haven’t read the books, you’re probably not going to be so much disappointed as wondering just what on earth is going on, in which case you should probably go and see it, as your stress levels won’t rise past vague confusion and slight anxiety, I’m sure.
The level of detail in the Harry Potty canon is understandably difficult to fit into a two hour movie, but in this case the screenwriter Steve Kloves seems to a) have forgotten what happened in the book, b) be in denial that there will be a seventh and eighth movie, as a few necessary plot points are nowhere to be found, and c) neglected the few small-but-charming moments that make the Harry Potter franchise what it is.
Watch for one scene in particular, about halfway through. It’s not in the book, and involves a key location for the seventh book being wiped out. For no apparent reason.
This is not to say the story is entire without charm; watch out for the Felix Felicis scene; Daniel Radcliffe clearly takes his inspiration from a few magic mushroom moments, and Rupert Grint does a smashing impression of somebody completely, well, smashed, while over-intoxicated on love potion.
If you’re a fan, you’re going to go see it anyway, so I recommend you wipe all thoughts of the book from your head and go in with an objective attitude…however, once you’ve done this you might want to sneak in a copy anyway for translation purposes, as you’ll have no idea what’s happening.
Overall, I though the movie deserves a 3/5. It does a little of all the aspects of a good movie well…it just can’t sustain all of them at once, unfortunately.
I’m still looking forward to the next and final movies (apparently there are two), for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, due out in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
What: Those who have been living in a box for the last decade or so, here, have a
Wikipedia link.
Where: All good cinemas- visit the Village site
here.
Why: Hey, it’s still the Star Wars of our generation, it deserves a little respect.
Rating: Recommended.
Comments
David Yates (director) did a
David Yates (director) did a superb job just magnificent to watch, may be Alfonso Cuarón would have made them ROCK. I am a great fan of Harry Potter series. My favorite still remains HP3: Prisoner of Azkaban. But Half Blood was simply outstanding on levels. I'll be seeing it again Saturday on IMAX which will be even better as it's one of the original IMAX screens that loom up and over the audience as opposed to newer screens that are just big.
Being a great fan I have collected a list of good sites and articles (may be around 200) related to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (movie information, movie schedule, movie reviews, books, games, news, wallpapers and many more). If you are interested take a look at the below link
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/all-you-want-to-know-about-harry-potter.html
Wow, looks like there's a
Wow, looks like there's a wealth of information there, thank you! I'm the biggest fan of the Order of the Phoenix; looking forward to seeing what they do with the last movies- I read today this one seems to be a set up for them, which may explain the lack of plot:) Thanks for your comment!
Hmmm I haven't seen the
Hmmm I haven't seen the movie and I doubt I will unless I go rent some pirated copy with a Spanish voice-over. But you sum up exactly what I think too! The books are way better, the movies are crap, and the only reason my brother even got into the movies (and refuses to read the books) is because he likes seeing how much hotter Hermione is getting as she grows up.
I know! There's always that
I know! There's always that hope though (usually against all logic and common sense) that somehow, some way, they'll make a movie truly worthy of the books:)Awesome, Harry Potter in Spanish- if they make Voldemort with a deep voice I'm totally there:)
the fact still remains that
the fact still remains that they added crap in that they shouldn't have. and i get really angry whenever someone says it was exactly like the book, because they lie!
hi, samantha :]
I know!!! I agree!!! I had
I know!!! I agree!!! I had someone say it to me today, and was like "Have you READ the book?" Hi, Kitten.
Is it the same actor playing
Is it the same actor playing Tom Riddle as in the 2nd movie? I am looking forward to seeing it.
Mmm, dunno:) But you'll like
Mmm, dunno:) But you'll like it I think- just the details lacking:)
Hey Zoe, no it's not the
Hey Zoe, no it's not the same actor from the 2nd movie playing Tom Riddle! Apparently he's too old now or something...