The latest Harry Potter film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, just hit theaters today. The sixth to date, it does the book justice despite the usual complaints of things being cut-out.
The movie starts with a bang, namely the destruction of the Millennium Bridge in London. A group of three Death Eaters, doing the flying-smoke thing that puzzled longtime book readers in the last movie, tear it apart while it’s in use. Once the film has your attention, it moves to Dumbledore and Harry’s visit to the retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn.
Half-Blood Prince feels darker than its predecessors, though there’s plenty of comic relief. Dan Radcliffe and company have really improved over the years, and I feel that they really nailed-down Dan’s character this time around. More of Harry’s trademark sarcasm has made it into the final cut this time around.
I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone, so I’ll simply say that the movie turned out great, and though it may not be my favorite of the bunch, it’s no slouch. There are some hilarious moments, some nice action scenes, and overall it captured the essence of the book.
Sumesh July 16th
I’m still waiting for the movie to hit local cinema (don’t tell me about torrents, these kinds of movies deserve the large cinema halls). It is a bummer that I live in a place where Hollywood films take a week or so to launch – the only exception being Quantum of Solace, which hit cinemas a week before USA release (yeah, honestly).
Looks like the movie will deviate to a darker path, like the books. From what I read, the director is rather a worshipful of the book – not deviating too much. That’s not fun, for those who’ve read the book….
Michael Martin July 16th
Just back from it now!
I thought it was very well done. It’s the first time where none of the actors have annoyed me (I never liked the new Dumbledore in the previous movies, but thought he did very well in this one).
I wouldn’t have minded a bit more action, but all in all, loved it 😀
redwall_hp July 17th
@Sumesh: It’ll be worth the wait.
@Michael: Glad you liked it. I thought it came out good. It wasn’t my favorite of the books, though none of them were bad). I liked some of the additions they made, the actors’ lines were great, and Radcliffe and Rickman were amazing.
I’m keeping up on news Warner Brothers puts out about Deathly Hallows, which will be in two parts, in case you didn’t here, and it sounds like it’s going to be even better.
Maricela October 29th
OK, I have no idea what movie you people saw but I thought this film was a MAJOR disappointment. No, I’m not one of those people who are sticklers for faithfulness to the source material (PoA was my favorite film) but I thought Steve Kloves’ choices were horrendous in this adaptation. My biggest gripe is that while they added an unnecessary scene of the Burrow being attacked they completely downplayed the epic climatic (action-packed!) ending of the book. Dumbledore’s death was fleeting and not as dramatic as it needed to be. Also, the entire reason for the Death Eaters’ infiltration of Hogwarts seemed pointless. “Oh, let’s watch Dumbledore die and then break some glasses in the Great Hall and leave” Are you kidding me? Where’s the major duel between the order and the death eaters? They might be saving it for the last movie but still, really? It makes me question why this film was even made in the first place. Also, the explanation of the Horcruxes and te ending of the movie was soooooo bad. No one except those who’ve read the books would understand what they are and why they’re significant. Whatever, I disliked this movie a lot besides the acting and cinematography I think it was a major disappointment.
Add Yours
YOU