no.108 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Not to be a nay-sayer, I enjoyed it, but wasn't jumping for joy. I'm not a fan of David Yates, don't think I will be, ever. There were lots of really great moments, Steve Kloves is a master adapter and knows when he can add new elements to make the story work, to build up anticipation and hit the right notes (even if it wasn't written by our beloved JK.) Who didn't feel the panic and the reality of the danger looming over every OftP member as they left their homes…Bellatrix sweeping in with her flames, Harry bolting after her (and Ginny wanting to Bat Bogey hex the bitch for stealing her xmas kiss.) Great scene, despite the loss of the Burrow. Is Molly moving the family to Diagon Alley?
My biggest beef, which was also in OftP, we crammed everything in the end, and it wasn't all that grand. As an artist, it's your eye against everyone else's and you hope they get what you see. IMHO, Kloves would serve the fans and the oeuvre some good if he would pepper some of the little things, things that don't take up six pages. Dude, Neville had one line and he was holding a tray in order to get that line (sounds a little like Cold Mountain.) I'm super glad that Luna got her QT (her Lion's head and wrackspurts!!) Bellatrix saw alot of screen time and liberal stretches, but I'm sure that's because they want to get blood from a turnip out of Helena Bonham Carter (she so looks the part.) I think we deserved to see the Gaunt family, I think we needed to truly see where Voldemort came from (I think Tom Riddle was truly transformed to Voldemort from seeing the bowels his family lived in - which literally turned his insides - and the path leading to kill his father's family.) Just as important as Slughorn's untainted horcrux memory. Even Snape and McGonagall didn't see much time (ahem, time is not being kind to Dame Maggie or Alan, so maybe...)
One thing that I was very glad to have read (I didn't read any "reviews", rather pre-filming bits) and everyone said the same thing, from actor to writer to director. At this point, it's film six; if the audience doesn't know something, we don't need to spell it out, there are a LOT of books that people can look to. Some liberties were taken in that sense (like speeding up Lupin and Tonks' relationship) and not including Fleur and Bill. With that omission, I'm interested to see how they transition without the wedding (I mean, they can still have a wedding, and he can still be attacked by Fenrir, but there is no Burrow!)
The ending wasn't nearly as bad or pathetic as the "everything's going to change" crap we got from GoF, but at the very least, could Ron have done something other than sit there? We get that whole bit about always making the audience feel that Harry is isolated and alone in his struggle, but the end needed the fight, needed to see that it isn't just the Chosen One, but his friends, that it will take the whole of the good wizarding world to win this war (isn't that what Lupin was referring to when he said they must stick together?) For the love…I even took tissues because I figured that I would need them. I didn't even cry…although it was filmed very well, with amazing heart and all students in unity destroying the Dark Mark. But dude, I wanted to cry! I wept both times I re-read HBP (before DH came out and again last month.)
Now that you want to jump down my throat, I loved that they played with the kids hormones, that even with adults around in a very serious situation, Hermoine and Lavender can go at it over Won-Won. Thank goodness we didn't have to see Harry and Ginny get in on all over the castle, but their little kiss left much for the imagination J Tackling the kids growth and push towards adulthood was smart and not overbearing. I loved the look of the cavern at the sea scene – the saturation of the colors (or lack thereof) was beautiful, the pace was perfect, the Inferi looked alot like Golum, but since they did want to get this a PG rating, they weren't scary at all (bummer!) There were a lot of great little laughs and I'm hoping when I hit this the second time with Farmer later this week, I'll enjoy them even more.
I finally could wear my DA shirt and not get dirty looks, although, as I shared with Maggie, when I arrived at the cinema with my pre-printed ticket, the kid looked at me sideways, asked if I was alone and directed me to what was an "adults" only theatre, the whole ways at the end and to the left. Didn't see any kids until after the show in the bathroom line. Not a bad thing, but it was nice!
My biggest beef, which was also in OftP, we crammed everything in the end, and it wasn't all that grand. As an artist, it's your eye against everyone else's and you hope they get what you see. IMHO, Kloves would serve the fans and the oeuvre some good if he would pepper some of the little things, things that don't take up six pages. Dude, Neville had one line and he was holding a tray in order to get that line (sounds a little like Cold Mountain.) I'm super glad that Luna got her QT (her Lion's head and wrackspurts!!) Bellatrix saw alot of screen time and liberal stretches, but I'm sure that's because they want to get blood from a turnip out of Helena Bonham Carter (she so looks the part.) I think we deserved to see the Gaunt family, I think we needed to truly see where Voldemort came from (I think Tom Riddle was truly transformed to Voldemort from seeing the bowels his family lived in - which literally turned his insides - and the path leading to kill his father's family.) Just as important as Slughorn's untainted horcrux memory. Even Snape and McGonagall didn't see much time (ahem, time is not being kind to Dame Maggie or Alan, so maybe...)
One thing that I was very glad to have read (I didn't read any "reviews", rather pre-filming bits) and everyone said the same thing, from actor to writer to director. At this point, it's film six; if the audience doesn't know something, we don't need to spell it out, there are a LOT of books that people can look to. Some liberties were taken in that sense (like speeding up Lupin and Tonks' relationship) and not including Fleur and Bill. With that omission, I'm interested to see how they transition without the wedding (I mean, they can still have a wedding, and he can still be attacked by Fenrir, but there is no Burrow!)
The ending wasn't nearly as bad or pathetic as the "everything's going to change" crap we got from GoF, but at the very least, could Ron have done something other than sit there? We get that whole bit about always making the audience feel that Harry is isolated and alone in his struggle, but the end needed the fight, needed to see that it isn't just the Chosen One, but his friends, that it will take the whole of the good wizarding world to win this war (isn't that what Lupin was referring to when he said they must stick together?) For the love…I even took tissues because I figured that I would need them. I didn't even cry…although it was filmed very well, with amazing heart and all students in unity destroying the Dark Mark. But dude, I wanted to cry! I wept both times I re-read HBP (before DH came out and again last month.)
Now that you want to jump down my throat, I loved that they played with the kids hormones, that even with adults around in a very serious situation, Hermoine and Lavender can go at it over Won-Won. Thank goodness we didn't have to see Harry and Ginny get in on all over the castle, but their little kiss left much for the imagination J Tackling the kids growth and push towards adulthood was smart and not overbearing. I loved the look of the cavern at the sea scene – the saturation of the colors (or lack thereof) was beautiful, the pace was perfect, the Inferi looked alot like Golum, but since they did want to get this a PG rating, they weren't scary at all (bummer!) There were a lot of great little laughs and I'm hoping when I hit this the second time with Farmer later this week, I'll enjoy them even more.
I finally could wear my DA shirt and not get dirty looks, although, as I shared with Maggie, when I arrived at the cinema with my pre-printed ticket, the kid looked at me sideways, asked if I was alone and directed me to what was an "adults" only theatre, the whole ways at the end and to the left. Didn't see any kids until after the show in the bathroom line. Not a bad thing, but it was nice!
I'll post again once I get to see it again...
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