Sunday, November 22, 2009

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Spoilers...but you've read the book already)

This is one of the most difficult movies to judge for me. After seeing this movie, I had to look at it in different ways; purely as a movie meant to entertain, a movie made from a book, where it stands with all the other movies, where it stands with all the other books, etc. And in some ways it succeeded, and in other ways it failed.
Now the movie was rated PG, but its one of the darker stories in the books. I was concerned that they would change a lot and make the movie more campy and kid-friendly, but thankfully, that is not the case. They don't pull punches, they show blood, vomit, semen, death, doom, and destruction (minus the semen) ......story time!
STORY
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has just beaten a bunch of death eaters and they have been arrested (including Lucius Malfoy), and has retrieved the prophesy. People are beginning to call him the chosen one (though in this movie, the rumors, and the pressure from all the fame is barely mentioned in the movie). Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) comes to London and takes Harry to the home of Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) who decides to come back to teach at Hogwarts. In the mean time Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) meets with Draco's mother (Helen McCrory) and Bellatrix Lestrange ( Helena Bonham Carter) and Snape promises to watch over Draco (Tom Felton) while he does some sort of deed that the Dark Lord gave him. Harry goes to the Burrow to meet his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). They go on their merry way to Hogwarts where Dumledore tells everyone that Voldemort might try to break into Hogwarts and kill everyone (you know, just as a casual heads up). Dumbledore asks Harry to get to know Slughorn. In Slughorn's class, Harry gets a Potions book that has many useful notes in it written by "the Half-Blood Prince". Harry does very well in class, and becomes a favorite of Slughorn. We later find out from Dumbledore that Slughorn taught Voldemort, and Harry has to convince Slughorn to share the memory of him telling Tom Riddle something important about magic (which we later find out is the soul-splitting magic, Horcrux).
Ron has also made the quidditch team as keeper and has a very annoying girlfriend Lavender Brown (who, by what I assume was magic, is no longer black) (played by Jessie Cave). Hermione is apparently upset cause she wants to be with Ron and is more frustrated since Cormic (Freddie Stroma) won't leave her alone. Ginny (Bonnie Wright) likes Harry, but Harry doesn't like her, but suddenly gains interest after she starts dating Dean Thompson who is a biker who just wants to be loved and they all became friends after spending an entire Saturday in detention and then they all-....isn't there like a lord of all evil that wants to destroy everything good that you guys should be worrying about?
Well, back into subplot 27: cursed things are going around apparently meant to be given to Dumbledore. It seems Draco is behind this since....um...he's a douche. I guess Harry just knows. At any rate he is right as Malfoy has been testing the teleport door thingy at the school (the only way for the death eaters to sneak in). Oh, speaking of Harry, I guess he's dating Ginny now. While home for the holidays, Harry goes to the Burrow with the Wesleys and meets old friends Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) and his wife Tonks (Natalia Tena). But they are interrupted as Fenir Greyback (Dave Legeno) and Lastrange arrive and set stuff on fire. The Burrow gets burned to the ground. oh well.
Back at school, most subplots have been finished up and Harry finally gets the Voldemont memory from Slughorn (Oh yeah and Aragog died...oh well). Dumbledore tells Harry that the Horcruxes must be destroyed. The diary of Tom Riddle and the ring of Voldemort's mother have already been destroyed so they only have 5 left. they go to the ocean or something and find a creepy cave where one of the Horcruxes is. They get attacked by zombies, but Dumbledore is a BAMF, so the zombies weren't around for long. They get back to Hogwarts and Dumbledore tells Harry to get Snape. Footsteps are heard and Dumbledore tells Harry to hide. Malfoy arrives and is ready to kill Albus. The death eaters also arrive via teleport thing and come to Draco. Draco disarms Dumbledore put can't kill him. Snape finally arrives but provides less help as he casts avada kadavra and kills Dumbledore....oh yeah, what i meant was, he killed Dumbledore! Oh my, I'm so totally surprised. Harry gets pissed and tries to fight Snape but Snape knocks him down and reveals to him that he was the half blood prince!....wait, we still cared about that subplot? Anyway, Snape, Draco and death eaters run away and Hogwarts is sad. Harry decides to drop out of hogwarts and Hermione and Ron (oh, i guess they are still in this movie) say that they will go with Harry....the end.
Ok. thats the full story (for the movie anyway). This movie was probably the least like the book (but still, most of the movies have been extremely loyal to the books). I thought the movie was fun and had cool action, but that is what would be good for the first 3 movies. With 4, 5, and 6, less has to do with the fun school adventures and learning about magic and instead becomes using the magic they've learned to fight against the bad stuff. But in this movie, there really wasn't much bad stuff at all. There seemed to be a bit of a lack of conflict. In fact, the closest thing we get to an antagonist is Lastrange (who gets 5 minutes of screentime) and Greyback (who doesn't have a single line of dialogue). Most of the movie was comedic and any seriousness was a subplot. It was fun seeing the characters just being in school and having their own adventure things that we saw in the first two or three years, but still, I felt that it was more important to get all the essential things in the movie, and that really isn't done.
the movie seems to suffer the same flaw X-Men Origins: Wolverine did that they give us many different, interesting, and important characters, but don't take time to explain them or develop them. It wasn't nearly as bad as Order of the Phoenix though. That movie had even more characters, had more story to explain, and was over a half hour shorter. Half-Blood Prince is worse with story then with character. Again, it seems to take less important scenes and also has 5 subplots instead one one actual story (which can work in some cases, just not with the Harry Potter story). What Yates is able to do though, is make Half-Blood Prince work as a movie. The book itself is not one of the better ones, but Yates is able to give it more action, well-paced, and does give character development (just not enough). He is also able to mix comedy with drama with action with sadness and happiness all together very well. I never thought that the movie was making serious things funny, or making something unable to be taken seriously, there just seemed to be a little to much comedy for such a dark story that required a lot of attention to plot. It was almost like Star Trek in the way that it had very funny scenes, but never campy. There were times where you were just watching an entertaining movie, but it could also work in some serious material and have a real story. Again, the problem is that Harry Potter is a story that doesn't give much (or any) time for fun subplots.
I also just disliked the whole romantic comedy thing they had. All of it was unnecessary, Lavender Brown was just annoying, and the whole thing showed that subtlety is not their strong point...at all. There is nothing remotely surprising with the Harry and Ginny kiss, if fact, it seemed to me more of something to get over with, whereas in the book, its something completely spontaneous. In the book, Hermione gives slight hints that she likes Ron and more slight hints in the seventh book. In the movie, she flat out says that she wants to be with Ron. Ron's romance with Lavender Brown was funny for a little bit. It was way over the top, and eventually it became very annoying.
Moving right along, my next complaint is Dumbledore's death. It wasn't done very well, and didn't seem to have the emotional impact I was hoping for. It didn't hold back just because it was PG, it just seemed...casual. Well, I've gone on for long enough. Lets move to characters.
CHARACTERS
Ok. I'm going to do something a bit different. I'm going to name all characters in the book and say how they did in the movie.
Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe gives another strong performance and continues to show that he has the ability to be a leading actor and shows a wide rang of emotions throughout the movie. He always has the sort of awkward shy character, while also adding in the needed emotion for a scene. Good for you!
Ron Weasley: Rupert Grint isn't taken seriously in any of these movies (with the exception of Goblet of Fire). He is always the comedic ginger, and he does fine in that role, but he doesn't have (or at least hasn't shown) many other characteristics.
Hermione Granger: Emma Watson had a good performance here. At times, her character seems somewhat dull, but in this, she seems to be more than "the brainy one". She has some character development but all the same, her and Ron are not the main characters. But it would be nice to see more character development with both of them.
Albus Dumbledore: Michael Gambon gives his best and final performance as Dumbledore. He seems to finally get all aspects of Dumbledore, his wisdom, his wisdom that seems like insanity, his funny side and serious side. I still preferred Richard Harris as Dumbledore, but he does well.
Severus Snape: Alan Rickman is made of win. He gives the most bestest performance in Half-blood Prince, with the ability to be funny without saying a single word, and perfectly portraying the creepy character of Snape. His expressions seem to say it all, and him speaking words is just an added bonus. He is so great and such a likable character, after he kills Dumbledore you just think "he had it comin". Alan Rickman: He's going to count to 3. There will not be a 4.
Horace Slughorn: Jim Broadbent's performance is probably the best of the Hogwarts new teacher of the year. Good job. More comedic and not the best character in the movie, but he's cool. Good job!
Ginny Weasley: There always seems to be this blank expression on Bonnie Wright's face. Kinda scary actually. She isn't bad, but she doesn't exactly have much of a character. She's on the quidditch team which I guess is supposed to be some kind of statement about how Ginny is a strong female character, but all the other scenes she is in, she is either making out with Dean Thomas or flirting with Harry. So...yeah.
Lavender Brown: Very annoying. She also used to be played by a tall black girl and is now played by a short white girl who looks like one of those crazy 12 year old girls who live their life by Twilight and High School Musical and then are accidentally hit with a shovel.....I did not care for her performance.
Draco Malfoy: Tom Felton's character finally gets some more character development than he usually does and plays a real antagonist. Good job- oh wait, now he's done since he doesn't have much of a role in book 7.
Bellatrix Lestrane: Helena Bonham Cater is very good at playing characters who are batshit insane. (then again, she did marry Tim Burton). She is great as always, but doesn't really have enough screen time in this movie.
Luna Lovegood: Evanna Lynch always seems to understand the character of Luna very well. She has a much smaller role than in OOTF, but she has some good lines in this as well.
Rubeus Hagrib: 2 scenes. Seems Hagrid gets less and less screen time as the movies go on. There just is no room for comedic characters when the movies get darker. Its like Jar Jar Binks only....when you know....not a piece of shit.
Cormac McLaggen: I honestly don't remember him from the books. Apparently he wants to get with Hermione and he's a jackass. Also responsible for the only erotic scene in the movie....
Fred and George: 1 scene that shouldn't have even been in the movie.
Mrs. Weasley: 2 scenes. Her time is cut also. I actually think she is a good actress playing a good character, and she also needs more screen time.
Professor Minerva McGonagall: 2 scenes. Maggie Smith is pretty awesome. She sould get more screentime and I know she will for the final movie.
Lupin and Tonks: combine total of 6 lines of dialogue. Its a shame. Lupin is one of my favorite characters. They hopefully will get screen time and are honorably killed off in the final movie.
Argus Filtch: It's better than Order of the Phoenix. That was just stupid.
Professor Flitwick: 2 lines of dialogue. I will never forgive you for the movie Willow, Warick Davis.
Neville Longbottom: 2 lines of dialogue. I was so pissed off when the Neville Longbottom prophesy subplot was taken out, and now he has been pushed aside for the last time. Neville will have his revenge damn it!
Seamus Finnigan: 1 line.
Wormtail: screentime of 5 seconds. no lines.
Voldemont: Nope.
The Dursleys: First time without any screen time or mention of the characters.
Cho Chang, the Patils, Katie Bell, Crabbe Goyle, Romilda Vane, Fudge, Greyback, and Mr. Wesley all have 0 lines of dialogue and only Greyback and Mr. Wealsey have screentime.
OVERALL
it has taken me 2 hours to write this review and I still am not entirely sure what to give it. My review has been harsh, but the movie itself was quite enjoyable if you don't look at it as a Harry Potter movie, can ignore some of the pointless scenes and plot holes, and still understand the movie. I tend to dislike all of the movie adaptations of Harry Potter because I do miss the little things in there that are not in the movie (well this one left out some big things as well). I think all of the movies need to be longer. Slightly under 3 hours would work. I think the first 2 movies did the best job of staying true to the story because there really was not a lot that had to be said. Most was just discovering the world of magic and exploring the castle. Then Voldemort can make and everyone had shit to worry about. This movie seemed to push Voldemort aside, and gave the kids some play time again. But again, the book also did that to some extent and the movie did its best to make it entertaining and not boring (and they did that. So now I will give it a bunch of different ratings and you can decide for yourself which one is most important (if any of them)
RATING: Movie compared w/other films
adaptation: 4/10 5th. In front of OOTP
Entertainment: 7/10 3rd. Behind goblet and Azkaban
As any movie: 6.5/10 -
I had fun watching it. It was an enjoyable action/fantasy/comedy that had some great moments. They did an even better job with making it more entertaining and adding more action and comedy for people to enjoy. It loses points for lack of plot and character development, and overall, didn't do a good job of furthering the Harry Potter story. But I give it credit for taking its time in scenes, and making everything far from boring whereas order of the phoenix was pure action that attempted to cram in story in under 2 hours. Also it gets extra points just for being Harry Potter.

No comments:

Post a Comment