Film Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I was very excited for this movie because the 6th book is one of my favorites. Although I’ve felt a roller coaster of emotions from the 5 previous films, ranging from utter disappointment (the 3rd film) to complete satisfaction (the 4th film), I was trying to keep in mind that it’s just a movie and it can’t please everyone.

Surely that mindset kept me from hating the film, but it couldn't help me love it like I so wanted to. After seeing all of the trailers, I was so ridiculously pumped to see this film! I went to the midnight showing, and waited in line for 2 1/2 hours. In the end, I left feeling confused about just what I thought about the film. Since then, I've mostly sorted out my feelings towards the 6th Potter flick.

I'll begin with the negative comments so that I can finish with the positive comments and thus end the review on a positive note.

1) No fight scene at the end! I knew that the fight scene between the Hogwarts students/teachers and the Death Eaters was going to be left out from the film, but I still felt disappointed that the end was so anti-climatic.

2) I wanted a bigger fight scene between Snape and Harry. Harry is supposed to HATE Snape, to be absolutely FURIOUS with him but I didn't really sense that emotion. Harry seemed to give up really quickly, and Snape was not as angry (I do recall a "I AM NOT A COWARD!" in the novel) as I had hoped.

3) David Yates concentrated too much on the romance aspect of the story. Other parts of the story weren't explored as thoroughly as I would have liked because of the focus on the teenage romance. Oh, and the kiss between Harry and Ginny that the fans eagerly waited for? LAME. I'm sorry, but there was no passion at all there.

4) I agree with Caitlin that there was definitely not enough Voldemort memories! I wanted badly to see the Gaunts, and I felt that Voldemort took a back seat in this film.

5) The Half-Blood Prince storyline took the 2nd backseat in this film. It seemed so unimportant and I even had friends who hadn't read the series asking why it was named "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".

6) Burning down the Burrow. Why exactly did the Death Eaters (well, Bellatrix and Fenrir) attack the Burrow? Nothing really came out of that lackluster fight except for the burning of the Weasley's home which didn't take place in the novel and wasn't explored later in the film.

7) The inaccuracies. Harry's supposed to kiss Ginny in front of approximately 50 people. Harry's supposed to be immobilized beneath the invisibility cloak while Dumbledore dies. These little details might have made both those scenes so much better for me.

OKAY, now after such negativity (sorry everyone!), here's the positive comments:

1) HILARIOUS. OH MY GOODNESS, this film was SO FUNNY. I was laughing so hard; the script was funny and the actors did such a great job at comedy! The Felix Felices part was ridiculously hilarious,and definitely one of my favourite parts of the movie. My favourite lines of the film were:
"Not to mention those pincers. Click click!"
"Harry!" "SIR!"
"All hands on deck, Granger!"
"So you and Ginny did it?"
"...Well, she has nice skin..."
Really, some great comedy there!

2) Slughorn! When I saw the trailers, I was disappointed that the actor did not have a walrus-like mustache and didn't really fit my physical idea of the character. But man, oh man, did Jim Broadbent impress me! He was downright hilarious and really made the character come to life. His movement, his speech...everything was just flawless!

3) Ron and Hermione. I'm a huge fan of this couple; I've loved the idea of them since the first couple novels and I was so happy to finally see a more pronounced loving tension between the two. When Ron is in the hospital and he whispers Hermione's name in his sleep, I'm pretty sure I "Aww"'ed for a good 5 minutes.

4) Lavender Brown. This actress was perfect for this character! Her performance was hilarious, and really enjoyed her over-the-top acting!

5) The acting. The quality of the acting from all of the actors, young and old, has really improved over the years. It's been a subtle growth but I really noticed how much work they put into their acting in this film. I was really impressed with all of the actors here.

6) Fred and George's Jokeshop. Although it wasn't shown all that much, I was impressed with how well the shop corresponded with my image of how it would look. It was very well done, and I loved the moving statue of the twins outside!

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It did lack on several accounts, but it made up for it in other ways. It wasn't the action-packed adventure I had hoped, but it was much more of a comedy then any of the previous films and had me almost crying from laughter! I'll give it a 3.5/5 because on the whole it kept me entertained and has a good chance in ending up being one of my favourite Potter films!\

(* cross posted from the cooperative blog Collision)