My thoughts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
So here's my review on the new Harry Potter that I saw at midnight (hell yeah!). SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't read the books or seen the movie!
I do this every time I go to see a Harry Potter movie and every time I leave the same way, slightly dejected. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Half-Blood Prince…but I had to separate from the book the same as I did for Goblet of Fire. I just don’t understand some of the decisions that are made when putting together these movies. And what kills me is knowing that JK Rowling has final say in the script and yet still vital plot points are left out.
First off, I understand that the books are long and not everything can make it in, but then why add things that aren’t in the book in the first place? The whole Harry chasing Bellatrix in the fields leading to the burning of the Burrow…where did that come from? Why was it there? It served no purpose.
Second, I feel like the movies really dumb it down for us when it comes to the villains. It’s like here’s Malfoy, let’s show you what he’s up too. Whereas in the book, Harry was slightly annoying about his obsession with Malfoy and you didn’t know if it was justified until the very end where you were like, shit he’s been doing some bad things. Here, everyone seemed to know that Malfoy was working with the cabinet. And the whole Snape thing…once again in the books, it was a constant source of argument: was he good or was he evil? But in this movie every time Snape had to make a decision, you could see how torn he was…leading you to think, ahhh he doesn’t want to do this cause he’s GOOD!
I will say that I did like the way Malfoy was shown. I like how you could see that he was torn and quite upset with what he had to do. The scene where Malfoy sees Katie in the Great Hall, brilliant! This is props to the actor Tom Felton who did an AMAZING job, I think the best in the movie! (And might I say he has grown up quite nice).
Third, where are Kreacher and Dobby? Enough said.
Fourth, the beginning felt really jumbled to me. I liked the Death Eaters wrecking havoc in England, that was pretty cool, but Harry at the train station? What was that? Where were the Dursleys?
Fifth, I like how the movie was called the Half-Blood Prince and they barely touched on that issue. Snape at the end was just like, I am the Half-Blood Prince…done.
Sixth, the ending. The cutting of the fight and of Dumbledore’s funeral were poor decisions. The director stated that he took out the fight and the funeral because he felt they met with the flow of the movie and that the fight scene here took away from the fight scene in the 7th book. Huh? I cried in the book when I read the whole scene from Dumbledore’s death to the funeral. But to me, the movie lacked the emotional attachment. I teared up when they all rose their wands in the air, but that was about it. And there was really no point in the Death Eaters being in Hogwarts. They didn’t do anything. The whole scene in Hogwarts felt lackluster, whereas when I read the book I remember being slightly panicked about everything that was going on. By taking out the fight you lose the intensity of that scene.
And finally, the memories….the epitome of the book. We got 2. 2! The memories were the most interesting part of the book for me. In the movie it was like, here’s him at the orphanage, here’s him being nosy about horcruxes. Nothing was explained. The reason why Voldemort hated Muggles? Nope. The reason why he shunned his name? Nope. Nothing was explained. Harry was supposed to learn about Voldemorts past, dive into the myth of the horror, but it just wasn’t there. Especially the horcruxes. I love how Harry’s like, I have to finish what Dumbledore started. Question: How the hell does he know what to look for????? They never spoke about them. Dumbledore even says that horcruxes are random items. Voldemorts obsession with the founders of the school, thus leading to the horcruxes was never even touched on. Nothing about him collecting treasures either. Dumbledore even mentioned to Harry in the beginning that he will tell him the tale of his hand (which I though was goona look more black, withered and skeletal), he never did. The lack of memories and explanations was the worse for me. Did this not seem like the most important part of the book to anyone else?
I am really interested in what the 7th movie will be like. No wonder it’s in 2 parts cause look at all the stuff they have to throw in there for it to come together. *Sigh*
Overall, I was entertained by the movie. I laughed at Lavendar cause she was so funny. Thought that Cormac slightly resembled a sexual predator when looking at Hermoine. Still found Luna adorable. I jumped when the hand came out of the lake (but I have to say, it was really funny seeing a whole theater jump simultaneously). I found the Harry/Ginny relationship cute. Ron under the love potion was great and Harry’s facial expressions when he drank the liquid luck were hilarious! And as always, I wish there was more of Fred and George. Would it have killed them to add in “U No Poo”?
So there you have it, my thoughts on the Half-Blood Prince. Feel free to comment and leave your opinions as to whether you agree or disagree with me. I love discussing Harry Potter!
I do this every time I go to see a Harry Potter movie and every time I leave the same way, slightly dejected. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Half-Blood Prince…but I had to separate from the book the same as I did for Goblet of Fire. I just don’t understand some of the decisions that are made when putting together these movies. And what kills me is knowing that JK Rowling has final say in the script and yet still vital plot points are left out.
First off, I understand that the books are long and not everything can make it in, but then why add things that aren’t in the book in the first place? The whole Harry chasing Bellatrix in the fields leading to the burning of the Burrow…where did that come from? Why was it there? It served no purpose.
Second, I feel like the movies really dumb it down for us when it comes to the villains. It’s like here’s Malfoy, let’s show you what he’s up too. Whereas in the book, Harry was slightly annoying about his obsession with Malfoy and you didn’t know if it was justified until the very end where you were like, shit he’s been doing some bad things. Here, everyone seemed to know that Malfoy was working with the cabinet. And the whole Snape thing…once again in the books, it was a constant source of argument: was he good or was he evil? But in this movie every time Snape had to make a decision, you could see how torn he was…leading you to think, ahhh he doesn’t want to do this cause he’s GOOD!
I will say that I did like the way Malfoy was shown. I like how you could see that he was torn and quite upset with what he had to do. The scene where Malfoy sees Katie in the Great Hall, brilliant! This is props to the actor Tom Felton who did an AMAZING job, I think the best in the movie! (And might I say he has grown up quite nice).
Third, where are Kreacher and Dobby? Enough said.
Fourth, the beginning felt really jumbled to me. I liked the Death Eaters wrecking havoc in England, that was pretty cool, but Harry at the train station? What was that? Where were the Dursleys?
Fifth, I like how the movie was called the Half-Blood Prince and they barely touched on that issue. Snape at the end was just like, I am the Half-Blood Prince…done.
Sixth, the ending. The cutting of the fight and of Dumbledore’s funeral were poor decisions. The director stated that he took out the fight and the funeral because he felt they met with the flow of the movie and that the fight scene here took away from the fight scene in the 7th book. Huh? I cried in the book when I read the whole scene from Dumbledore’s death to the funeral. But to me, the movie lacked the emotional attachment. I teared up when they all rose their wands in the air, but that was about it. And there was really no point in the Death Eaters being in Hogwarts. They didn’t do anything. The whole scene in Hogwarts felt lackluster, whereas when I read the book I remember being slightly panicked about everything that was going on. By taking out the fight you lose the intensity of that scene.
And finally, the memories….the epitome of the book. We got 2. 2! The memories were the most interesting part of the book for me. In the movie it was like, here’s him at the orphanage, here’s him being nosy about horcruxes. Nothing was explained. The reason why Voldemort hated Muggles? Nope. The reason why he shunned his name? Nope. Nothing was explained. Harry was supposed to learn about Voldemorts past, dive into the myth of the horror, but it just wasn’t there. Especially the horcruxes. I love how Harry’s like, I have to finish what Dumbledore started. Question: How the hell does he know what to look for????? They never spoke about them. Dumbledore even says that horcruxes are random items. Voldemorts obsession with the founders of the school, thus leading to the horcruxes was never even touched on. Nothing about him collecting treasures either. Dumbledore even mentioned to Harry in the beginning that he will tell him the tale of his hand (which I though was goona look more black, withered and skeletal), he never did. The lack of memories and explanations was the worse for me. Did this not seem like the most important part of the book to anyone else?
I am really interested in what the 7th movie will be like. No wonder it’s in 2 parts cause look at all the stuff they have to throw in there for it to come together. *Sigh*
Overall, I was entertained by the movie. I laughed at Lavendar cause she was so funny. Thought that Cormac slightly resembled a sexual predator when looking at Hermoine. Still found Luna adorable. I jumped when the hand came out of the lake (but I have to say, it was really funny seeing a whole theater jump simultaneously). I found the Harry/Ginny relationship cute. Ron under the love potion was great and Harry’s facial expressions when he drank the liquid luck were hilarious! And as always, I wish there was more of Fred and George. Would it have killed them to add in “U No Poo”?
So there you have it, my thoughts on the Half-Blood Prince. Feel free to comment and leave your opinions as to whether you agree or disagree with me. I love discussing Harry Potter!