Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
At 2 hours and 33 minutes, I want a movie to be worth my time, not just my money (both for the ticket AND the sitter). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was entertaining, but not quite entertaining enough.
There was much in its favor. It was nice to see the familiar actors again, and they all did very well. The visuals were great, and there was even a quidditch match this time. The best part, though, was the banter and interplay among the students as their hormones surged. This had many funny moments and exchanges.
What didn’t work was how tedious the plot became. The film seemed to treat plot as a burden, lavishing time on the scenes with students, then rushing through key points from the book, like the reveal of the half-blood prince. During the penultimate scene, in which Harry and Dumbledore go off alone to battle something serious, I thought, “This is boring. I wish I were napping instead.”
That boredom took some of the power out of the final scene and the death of a major character.
Most critics seem to like it more than I did. I recommend it, but with reservations. Don’t pay full price, though it is worth seeing in theaters for the stunning visuals.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I had the same reaction - I was slightly underwhelmed, though there were parts I enjoyed.
July 31st, 2009 at 6:58 am
my dad liked it the BEST of all the Potter films.
July 31st, 2009 at 7:30 am
Your dad and I have disagreed before, on “Becoming Jane” I think. In some ways it was the best–visuals, the quidditch, the character interplay, how Dumbledore is FINALLY treating Harry w/o kid gloves. But the exposition was clumsy, and I very much wished the second to last scene at the lake was cut. Visually amazing, but superfluous, I thought, both in the book and the movie.
I liked #3 the best–Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuaron.
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:19 am
just got back from watching it, and I have to agree that I felt it a bit wanting in some areas. I hadn’t considered the lake scene superfluous, but now that I’m thinking on it, I agree with you.
I, too, enjoyed the character interplay, the entertaining banter. I’d love to see (similarly to the Tolkien films) an Extended Director’s Cut edition wherein might lie a few of the, in my opinion, meatier omitted portions — like fighting in the halls around the time of the attack or the final funeral. But that’s possibly just the packrat in me that can’t abide the dropping of details, especially in large chunks.
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 am
What I appreciated about the HP5 film was Yates’ efficient editing of an overlong book. Here, I thought, the editing was uneven. I don’t mind missing stuff, esp. if it’s no good, but the missing Snape stuff was pretty important in this one.