Movie review time, kids. Gather 'round. Today we are, of course, talking about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
If I weren't writing a review on this movie, I'd be completely speechless. Over the last 9 years, we've lived with this series (on film, anyhow). To date, we've had 4 different directors, different cinematographers, composers and, in one case, a different writer. As inconsistent as these movies have been, stylistically, over the years, it's easily agreeable that the two most similar in style are the first two, directed by Chris Columbus. Same director, same writer, same feel.
Fast forward to today. The last film, Order of the Phoenix, as well as Half-Blood Prince (and the two-part finale, Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2) have been made under the watchful eye of director David Yates. OotP had a different writer, sure, but the movie felt very light-hearted and happy go-lucky, even with the subject matter of Voldemort's return and the death of a main character. Even the musical score (which was horrendous, in my opinion) was light-hearted and bouncy. Half-Blood Prince throws all of that out the window with a vengeance.
David Yates has made a complete 180 with HBP. It's a dark movie when it has to be, the comedy is acceptable and doesn't feel forced or out of place (a complaint I had with OotP) and most importantly, the heart-wrenching moments of the story are just that.
The movie comes in at about two and a half hours, so the cuts they made from the book were completely necessary (minus my favorite line from the book which was apparently cut for no reason...). The only complaint I have as far as stuff that was cut out was the fact that again, we are given a film that has zero presence of Dobby, the house-elf. Even Kreacher was cut from the film. As I remember, Dobby's been in all but two of the books. With him confirmed to be in the film adaptation of Deathly Hallows, I only hope his re-appearance doesn't seem as abrupt and awkward as Percy Weasley's did in the fifth film.
I also feel that Draco Malfoy was grossly under-used. His part is big in this story, and at least it seems he got alot more attention in the book (with Harry having Dobby and Kreacher tail him around the school). In the film his presence is constantly known, but he has less speaking time than I'd have liked to see. Under-used as I feel he is, Tom Felton did a superb job, reprising his role as Malfoy, and was quite possibly the best player in this particular entry (next to an absolutely, bat-shit-crazy, Bellatrix LeStrange, played again by Helena Bonham Carter).
And that's it. Two complaints. I'm a nitpicker beyond all reason and I only found two things wrong with this film. Even the extreme psychosis of Lavender Brown (played by Jessie Cave) didn't bother me (and trust me... this bitch was crazy). It manages to take what (in my opinion guys, calm down) was a rather boring entry to the Harry Potter saga and turn it into easily the most enjoyable film in the series to-date.
J.K. Rowling herself said to David Yates this film was her favorite one (source), and for good reason. While the movie feels like a mere setup for the finale to come, it does it with enough grace, emotion and style that it truly does stand on it's own as the best in the series. I give it a solid 9 out of 10. -Josh
*Additional comments: A bunch of people don't know how to separate the books from the films. If you go in expecting an exact representation of the book you love, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Scenes get cut, dialogue changes. Sometimes it hinders the story, but more often than not, it does not. Enjoy the film as it's meant to be: it's own creation. The books will always be there and if you prefer them, pick one up and read it. I'm tired of people bitching and complaining about scenes that were changed or left out, so much so that they refuse to enjoy the film for what it is. Like I said in my review, they left out the house-elves entirely, a part of the book I love: did it ruin the film for me? Absolutely not. If they wanted to translate these books in their entirety, we'd end up with a 6 hour movie....
If I weren't writing a review on this movie, I'd be completely speechless. Over the last 9 years, we've lived with this series (on film, anyhow). To date, we've had 4 different directors, different cinematographers, composers and, in one case, a different writer. As inconsistent as these movies have been, stylistically, over the years, it's easily agreeable that the two most similar in style are the first two, directed by Chris Columbus. Same director, same writer, same feel.
Fast forward to today. The last film, Order of the Phoenix, as well as Half-Blood Prince (and the two-part finale, Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2) have been made under the watchful eye of director David Yates. OotP had a different writer, sure, but the movie felt very light-hearted and happy go-lucky, even with the subject matter of Voldemort's return and the death of a main character. Even the musical score (which was horrendous, in my opinion) was light-hearted and bouncy. Half-Blood Prince throws all of that out the window with a vengeance.
David Yates has made a complete 180 with HBP. It's a dark movie when it has to be, the comedy is acceptable and doesn't feel forced or out of place (a complaint I had with OotP) and most importantly, the heart-wrenching moments of the story are just that.
The movie comes in at about two and a half hours, so the cuts they made from the book were completely necessary (minus my favorite line from the book which was apparently cut for no reason...). The only complaint I have as far as stuff that was cut out was the fact that again, we are given a film that has zero presence of Dobby, the house-elf. Even Kreacher was cut from the film. As I remember, Dobby's been in all but two of the books. With him confirmed to be in the film adaptation of Deathly Hallows, I only hope his re-appearance doesn't seem as abrupt and awkward as Percy Weasley's did in the fifth film.
I also feel that Draco Malfoy was grossly under-used. His part is big in this story, and at least it seems he got alot more attention in the book (with Harry having Dobby and Kreacher tail him around the school). In the film his presence is constantly known, but he has less speaking time than I'd have liked to see. Under-used as I feel he is, Tom Felton did a superb job, reprising his role as Malfoy, and was quite possibly the best player in this particular entry (next to an absolutely, bat-shit-crazy, Bellatrix LeStrange, played again by Helena Bonham Carter).
And that's it. Two complaints. I'm a nitpicker beyond all reason and I only found two things wrong with this film. Even the extreme psychosis of Lavender Brown (played by Jessie Cave) didn't bother me (and trust me... this bitch was crazy). It manages to take what (in my opinion guys, calm down) was a rather boring entry to the Harry Potter saga and turn it into easily the most enjoyable film in the series to-date.
J.K. Rowling herself said to David Yates this film was her favorite one (source), and for good reason. While the movie feels like a mere setup for the finale to come, it does it with enough grace, emotion and style that it truly does stand on it's own as the best in the series. I give it a solid 9 out of 10. -Josh
*Additional comments: A bunch of people don't know how to separate the books from the films. If you go in expecting an exact representation of the book you love, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Scenes get cut, dialogue changes. Sometimes it hinders the story, but more often than not, it does not. Enjoy the film as it's meant to be: it's own creation. The books will always be there and if you prefer them, pick one up and read it. I'm tired of people bitching and complaining about scenes that were changed or left out, so much so that they refuse to enjoy the film for what it is. Like I said in my review, they left out the house-elves entirely, a part of the book I love: did it ruin the film for me? Absolutely not. If they wanted to translate these books in their entirety, we'd end up with a 6 hour movie....
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