Now to Think of Something...

listening to: Boyce Avenue, Lifehouse

I seem to have noticed that those who have seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are pretty evenly split between loving the film and hating it. I have further observed that those who hate it are those who cannot separate the film series from the book series, or those who haven't read the books. For those of us who--even if we are purists, at heart--can distinguish the differences between the film series and the book series without getting too angry, the film was brilliant.

I have heard several major arguments on why the film was so dreadful. Among these are: too much romance, lack of action, and--given chiefly by those who read the books--lack of cohesive storyline which will allow for the full conclusion given in Deathly Hallows. My responses to these arguments are thus:

I don�t feel there was ENOUGH romance in the film. It didn�t detail at all Harry and Ginny�s relationship, nor did it even mention their break-up at the end of the film. While by no means essential to the plot, it is a rather important sub-plot for character development, in my humble (though romantic) opinion.

I felt also that there was sufficient action in the film. This particular installment was never comparable, action-wise, to Die Hard, and I don�t feel they left out any essential bits of action. Useful, yes. Entertaining, yes. Essential, no. In fact, they even added an actiony bit that wasn�t in the novel: Bellatrix attacking the Weasley�s home. This installment in the series was always more about developing the story, particularly that of Tom Riddle. Where that is concerned, I feel they did a wonderful job.

My opinion on the sheer content that was left out of the film is that they will probably put some of the left-out bits into the 7th film, as it will need some filler material, in my opinion. Also� if they can manage to conclude the story without these bits of information, more power to them.

I�m not setting out to do a review, really. I just wanted to share my opinion. So�there it is. Feel free to argue, debate, disagree, or any other synonyms you like.

Categories: Harry Potter [t], Half-Blood Prince [t], HBP [t]

I don't love it OR hate it.
I was disappointed, but I think that as a film, it was okay. I took issue with them cutting out/glossing over certain things, but on the whole I think it was, generally speaking, a successful film.

The main problem I had was... well, it's called "The Half-Blood Prince" for a reason. They barely touched on the Snape subject.
» rabekriegerin on 2009-07-31 04:13:53

That's a fair point, actually. They should have discussed it more.
» squid on 2009-07-31 04:36:49

I agree on the Half-Blood Prince thing, but aside from that, I thought it was an excellent and entertaining film with really cool cinematography. I thought whoever was in charge of the "art" aspect did a really great job. And I loved all of the romance and character development. I do think though that they could have cut out that attack on the Barrow and put in the epic fight at the end of the movie with the death eaters and aurors without tacking on too much time. But yeah, I loved it. So entertaining.
» Zanzibar on 2009-08-01 01:05:34

Oh, if they'd switched their time and resources from the attack on the Burrow to the fight at the climax of the film, I think they would've been better overall, and had a much higher "approval rating", if you will.
» squid on 2009-08-03 12:23:42

i didn't read the later books
but i thought that the movie was really good, in fact, arguably the best of the series. people were expecting another giant wizard fight like the one in order of the phoenix.

and no one dare say that snape's special spell wasn't bad ass. or when he easily slapped it away with his wand.
» thaitanic on 2009-08-06 01:17:17

It had it's ups and downs.
I've been reading the books after the movies come out. I've known that I usually have difficulty seperating movie from book, so I figured I'd make an effort to give the movies a chance. So far, there have been movies that I prefer over the book and vice versa. I felt that Order of the Pheonix was MUCH better than the book. However, I felt pretty torn over this movie and book. Zanzibar is totally correct on the action sequence. Without the big fight at the end, I felt like I had sex without a climax (pardon the metaphor). BUT the amazing thing that I loved about the movie was the comedy. There was hardly anything to chuckle about in the book and I don't care HOW serious things are, there should at least be something to smirk over.
» elessar257 on 2009-10-23 11:39:58

I totally agree. In fact, I remember thinking that it was awesome that it was so dark and so light at the same time. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I was really pleased with the change that Snape actually physically saw Harry in the tower. It added a sense of... almost righteousness to the betrayal, I guess, because just when it seemed like Snape had earned Harry's trust, if not his approval, Snape turned on him.

Since you haven't read the 7th book yet, I won't say anything else on that front.

I do have one question for you, though. Since they're splitting the 7th book into two films, will you wait until both are out before reading the book, or stop at a specific chapter or scene at which the seventh film stops?
» squid on 2009-11-04 02:38:53

I have NO idea what I'm going to do.

I've debating just saying "screw it" and reading the book now. I'm in the middle of another book currently, but I may just do it. I mean, I've clearly shown myself that I can seperate the books and the movies by now. So, I'll let you know what I decide...
» elessar257 on 2009-11-06 03:15:22

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