Half-Blood Prince Movie Review

!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be giving a review of the 6th movie. Do not read if you haven't seen it yet. You've been warned.







Holy Crap Load of Awesomeness!

I just got back from the movie, and I have to say, it is one of my favorites. It really is much better than the previous two. The acting is much better and the cinematography is fantastic. I'll break down this review into things I loved, and things that could have been better.

Awesome Stuff

- First off, bravo to Mr. Michael Gambon who plays Dumbledore. I was very much impressed with his performance in this movie. I haven't been a huge fan of his before now. I finally caught glimpses of the Dumbledore from the books. Finally!

-The trio have really raised the bar with their acting in this movie. I thought that in the previous two films, the trio may have gone a little too serious with their roles, but in this movie, they struck a good balance between the dramatic and the comedic.

-There was much more of Luna in this movie than I anticipated. The way I see it, the more Luna, the better. I laughed out loud at Luna's Christmas party dress, by the way.


-I was pleasantly surprised by Jim Broadbent's job as Slughorn. He isn't portrayed in the movie like he is in the books, but I kind of like Mr. Broadbent's take on the character.

-The movie didn't get bogged down in over-the-top cinematic action sequences. The fourth movie felt clumsy and clunky as it shifted from one action sequence to the next. In this movie, however, the plot moved forward nicely and the transitions were much more smooth.

-Tom Felton took it up a notch as well as Draco Malfoy. The kid did his homework. I think he was exactly like the Draco we read about in the books.

- The writers took lots of liberties with changing the plot and order of events, but I felt that in this book, more than the others, it worked well and I'm not bummed that something important was left out.

-I was very impressed with the attention to detail. For one thing, in the Chamber of Secrets novel, it's mentioned early on that Mr. Weasley has a garden shed full of muggle stuff he loves to take apart and put back together. This is never mentioned again in the books and is left out of the 2nd movie, but this little nugget wasn't forgotten. They actually included it in this movie. Also, in Sorcerer's Stone in the very first chapter, Dumbledore sits on the Dursley's garden wall and unsticks two lemon drops. These are, in his words, "A muggle sweet I'm rather fond of." Near the end of the film, as the camera pans over Dumbledore's desk, there lies a bowl of lemon drops. Neat, huh.

- Once again, Alan Rickman was amazing. In other news, water is wet. Moving on.




Could have been better

- The ending felt a little rushed. Dumbledore croaking is one of the biggest events in the series. They could have spent a little more time with it. I would like to have seen the funeral. It would have provided a good opportunity for little cameos as well (i.e. Umbridge, Grawp, Firenze, Dobby, Mad-Eye, the Hogwarts Ghosts, etc.) It's important for continuity sake to bring up old characters who will play an important role in the coming films. (By the way, it was just confirmed that Imelda Staunton will be reprising her role as Umbridge for the final two films)

- I felt that the adolescent love stuff was funny and entertaining, but I felt they took it a bit too far sometimes. i.e. Dumbledore asking if there was anything between Harry and Hermione. Like he'd ever really ask that.

- I don't like where they left things between Ron and Hermione. The alluded to the fact that they would eventually hook up, but at the end of the film, it left audiences with the impression that they had, in fact, hooked up.

-I don't think there was enough camera time for the "Staples." Hagrid hardly got any screen time, and same with McGonagall. Shame. Did anyone else think Maggie Smith didn't look very healthy? She looked like she had aged about 10 years between films.

Conclusion

That's about all I can think of for now, but I'm sure to think of other stuff and it has time to settle in my rather empty head, so don't be surprised if I let little opinions on the movie slip into my Chamber of Secrets posts. I probably won't see this in theatres again, but I will definitely get it on DVD... probably on the day it comes out. :)