AZZenny
Registered User
Meh.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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conraddobler
I want my 2$
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It natually suffers some from the fact it's a setup towards the ending, but for what it is it was done well.
Louis
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I really enjoyed the movie. BTW, good job by the kid who plays Malfoy.
But have a spoilerish type of question for somebody who has read the book...
But have a spoilerish type of question for somebody who has read the book...
So is Snape still good? I kinda have a feeling he and Dumbeldore planned this because of Dumbeldore's condition worsening from that ring. Though they didn't hint at it, but I imagine there is a big change in the next movies where Snape returns to the good side.
His turn seemed a little abrupt, and his reluctance to kill Harry but actually protect him after the death of Dumbeldore tell me he is still good.
His turn seemed a little abrupt, and his reluctance to kill Harry but actually protect him after the death of Dumbeldore tell me he is still good.
This is addressed in the next book.
The good and the bad...
The good.... As a stand alone film, it was good... not great, but good. It was a little choppy in a few areas, but otherwise seemed to flow ok (I felt like that if I hadn't read the book, I would have been somewhat confused in a few areas). The special effects were top notch and the actors, particularly Emma Watson, were very good.
The bad... far and away, the absolutely worst adaptation of the book it's based upon. IMPORTANT parts were left out, or edited in incomprehensibly dumb ways. Huge chunks were deleted. The deletion of the end of the book was unforgivable.
Now remember that I am a very big HP fan, both movies and books. Nonetheless, this one was a disappointment for me. The following is in hindsight, I know, but HPHBP should have been two movies along with the Deathly Hallows. There was just too much material, important material, to try to stuff into one movie.
3 out of 5 stars.... Could have been 5 out of 5.
The good.... As a stand alone film, it was good... not great, but good. It was a little choppy in a few areas, but otherwise seemed to flow ok (I felt like that if I hadn't read the book, I would have been somewhat confused in a few areas). The special effects were top notch and the actors, particularly Emma Watson, were very good.
The bad... far and away, the absolutely worst adaptation of the book it's based upon. IMPORTANT parts were left out, or edited in incomprehensibly dumb ways. Huge chunks were deleted. The deletion of the end of the book was unforgivable.
Now remember that I am a very big HP fan, both movies and books. Nonetheless, this one was a disappointment for me. The following is in hindsight, I know, but HPHBP should have been two movies along with the Deathly Hallows. There was just too much material, important material, to try to stuff into one movie.
3 out of 5 stars.... Could have been 5 out of 5.
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Agree about Ron. Pretty good movie, too much boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Even the ten year old sitting next to us said "come on, enough!"
I think they did as good of a job as they could with this one.
I agree that it was the worst adaptation of the book, but besides that I can't even say it was an entertaining film either. It was actually a bit boring. I probably expected too much as this was my favorite book of the series.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Please, by FAR the worst adaptation of the book was Prisoner. So many people gushed about how good a MOVIE it was, but everyone I know agrees that he was the furthest of all of them away from the actual, ya know, book.
Trust me, I hated that one too...I guess I give it points because it was more watchable in my opinion, if you didn't read the book. You can definitely debate it and I can't disagree with you. I loved the third book and they really didn't focus on the most important scenes, especially there at the end. I just feel that the difference in the sixth movie was that, instead of half-assing key scenes, they decided to cut them...all of them pretty much. Ha..just disappointed with this entire movie series.
Chaplin
Better off silent
Good lord. Maybe 2% of all adaptations are straight from the book accurate. If you don't like the damn series, then don't watch it!
LOL Chap. We need to send you to D.C. and speak some truth on behalf of all of us. Way to cut to the chase there. My head was about to explode.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
The family went to see this over the weekend. We like the Harry Potter films but this one at times just dragged. Neither of us has read this book but we also thought the plot was so so.
Also, maybe we just missed something but we found it odd that Dumbledore was out searching for artifacts but the film indicated he had no clue why. He apparently tried to destroy one but again seemed to indicate he didn't know how they were related to Voldemort. Then by seeing the memory that he had been after, all of the sudden he realizes that Voldermort used a Hocrux to split his soul and that's what the artifacts are. It seems the headmaster of all of Hogwarts would have known that is what Voldermort did IMO.
Just thought this was the weakest of the films so far. Maybe this was an adaptation problem as others have already stated.
Also, maybe we just missed something but we found it odd that Dumbledore was out searching for artifacts but the film indicated he had no clue why. He apparently tried to destroy one but again seemed to indicate he didn't know how they were related to Voldemort. Then by seeing the memory that he had been after, all of the sudden he realizes that Voldermort used a Hocrux to split his soul and that's what the artifacts are. It seems the headmaster of all of Hogwarts would have known that is what Voldermort did IMO.
Just thought this was the weakest of the films so far. Maybe this was an adaptation problem as others have already stated.
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Did Book6 have them visiting Luna's house? Or was that 7?
Correct.
Chap, by your definition, if the the book HBP was turned into a movie about tossing flapjacks, I should be content. I choose otherwise.....
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
7.
I saw it this weekend. I was fine with the pace of the film because I felt like it was building up to the big ending, but it never came. The movie kind of flat-lined at the end. The pensive ending was cliche' and not at all set up.
I think the only real problem there was editor couldn't decide which Potter to leave in the story, so you have a constant character flip ... completely confident and self-assured on one hand and a milquetoast on the other. Instead of character growth we were given a lead character who was almost subjugated to setting up all the periphery story lines.
I still enjoyed it, as I do all the HP movies. Love that universe. I've seen all kinds of theories about what kind of history J.K. Rowling has metaphorically alluded to, and I think the HP movies are strongest when then rely on the WWII-era London themes (see Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix). That's when that universe really pops off the screen and people of all ages are sucked into that peril, caring deeply for the characters involved. IMO, the HP movies fall apart when they get caught up in the more fundamental "coming of age" storylines because they're not particularly strong ... in fact those storylines suffer because the characters are revealed as too-familiar stereotypes. Other than Ron and Draco, I would say the character development regressed. (Draco's character development was perhaps my favorite element of the entire movie ... I loved his -- finally -- darker edge. And he seems finally capable of being a true HP rival. He's not just a bumbling, whiny bully).
All that said, I totally appreciate the fact they're building up to the big two-part finale and had to set things in place. It's not an easy task to care for a series legacy like this, and knowing how they had to end it, I imagine they were under a great deal of pressure from producers to keep the bulk of the movie somewhat light-hearted.
I wish they'd had the foresight to hand over directing duties to someone like Pedro Almodovar who I think has a special insight into this kind of storytelling, but I think Yates has the unenviable task of managing several in a series rather than one film. In hindsight, maybe they should have had a different director for each film and allow the producers to worry about continuity.
I think the only real problem there was editor couldn't decide which Potter to leave in the story, so you have a constant character flip ... completely confident and self-assured on one hand and a milquetoast on the other. Instead of character growth we were given a lead character who was almost subjugated to setting up all the periphery story lines.
I still enjoyed it, as I do all the HP movies. Love that universe. I've seen all kinds of theories about what kind of history J.K. Rowling has metaphorically alluded to, and I think the HP movies are strongest when then rely on the WWII-era London themes (see Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix). That's when that universe really pops off the screen and people of all ages are sucked into that peril, caring deeply for the characters involved. IMO, the HP movies fall apart when they get caught up in the more fundamental "coming of age" storylines because they're not particularly strong ... in fact those storylines suffer because the characters are revealed as too-familiar stereotypes. Other than Ron and Draco, I would say the character development regressed. (Draco's character development was perhaps my favorite element of the entire movie ... I loved his -- finally -- darker edge. And he seems finally capable of being a true HP rival. He's not just a bumbling, whiny bully).
All that said, I totally appreciate the fact they're building up to the big two-part finale and had to set things in place. It's not an easy task to care for a series legacy like this, and knowing how they had to end it, I imagine they were under a great deal of pressure from producers to keep the bulk of the movie somewhat light-hearted.
I wish they'd had the foresight to hand over directing duties to someone like Pedro Almodovar who I think has a special insight into this kind of storytelling, but I think Yates has the unenviable task of managing several in a series rather than one film. In hindsight, maybe they should have had a different director for each film and allow the producers to worry about continuity.
And one side note: I think Bonnie Wright (the girl who plays Ginnie Weasley) is going to be the real breakout star from these movies. She's growing up into a very attractive woman with some decent acting chops -- and she won't be forever associated with the HP movies like all the other young actors on that set. Very impressed with her performance, however much there was for screen time.
I'd watch it too. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff that goes right over my head because there's so much to keep track of and the movie moves so fast.
Yeah, there was no way to avoid knowing about that, even if you don't read the books.
Two more films to go!
