Escape to the Movies: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

[wewontdie11]

I totally agree with everything said in this review. I found myself making almost exactly the same judgements as I left the cinema.

I didn't like the first two and I stopped watching after them. They just didn't have the now abundant grit that I actually kinda like, and seemed very "kiddy", which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not my thing.

Good review good film.

 

[Vuljatar]

I just hate how they utterly castrated what should have been a fantastic action scene at the end.

 

[PurpleRain]

How very nice that you ruined the movie for anyone who has yet to watch it... I dunno, in a different country that has yet to premiere it?

You.

Don't.

Put.

SPOILERS

In a review. Especially something from the last few minutes of the movie.

Except with this franchise anyone who cares already knows what happens, so it's not an especially big deal unless you've forgotten.

Those who don't know by now most likely won't care, as they've more than likely never bought into the Potter hype and don't feel as though their very soul was pissed on just because they learned something before reading/viewing the material.

I care as I've only kept up to date with the films. And it is true, you never put spoilers in reviews no matter how professional or amature you are. You're spoiling the movie for some.

As for the last paragraph, a bit of an overstatment don't you think? Of course souls aren't ruined, but it still sucks.

 

[Clashero]

I would think the Harry Potter series is about the one film series you can put spoilers in a review for. Lets be honest anyone who really cares about going to see the film would have read the book and knows what's going to happen.
Which is a point that wasn't raised - the film totally deviates from the book, massively so.

Indeed, I don't know how the writers are going to write the 7th movie(s). They left out tons of important stuff that becomes crucial to the plot of the Deathly Hallows.

Also, Bob, if you're reading this: was that a picture of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark I saw there? If so, you get +100 to awesome.

 

[OnTheRocks]

You know, I tried reading the books. I liked book 1-4, and hated Harry's character in book 5.
Well, the first 100 or so pages of book 5. So I put the thing down.

And the movies seem to be following the trend. The first few were ok, and now I couldn't care less.
You were right Bob, it didn't matter what you said.

O wow I'm glad I'm not alone.

Neither of you are alone. Book 5 was where I gave up at the 100 page mark. Harry was getting a tad too angst-ridden for my taste... hey, I've been to high school before, no need to go back.

Plus, with the length of them expanding, I realized that in the same timeframe I could read a book from my own age bracket that I liked more.

Having said that, I've started up the 5th book again now and am enjoying it well enough. There are still a lot of things that really irk me about it, like how Rolling spends 80 pages talking about Harry's "boring" classes and how "bored" he is in all of them. Jo, let me take you to the side and tell you something... I work in an office, meaning I shake boredom by the hand every day. When I spend my precious free time reading a work of escapist fiction, I don't want eighty pages of BORING. Ye gods, you promised me a wizard war and gave me three scenes of Potions class that all play out exactly the same.

This time I will finish it, but she's not making it easy.

 

[ThisNewGuy]

Good review, but there are 7 books, where the hell is the eigth movie coming from?

EDIT: Why are a lot of the transitions pixelated?

They're splitting the 7th book into two.

Anyways, I didn't really like the movie. It was pretty much monotone the whole way through. It starts slow, follows slow, ends slow. And the evil witches that eventually (SPOILER ALERT) get into Hogwarts and starts trashing the place and killing people just leaves suddenly for no reason and everyone just forgot that they were ever there and went outside for the funeral (/Alert).

Even the climax was anticlimatic for me. It was just like people staring at each other for a long time then BAM, roll credits.

Overall, I thought it was very boring, some friends of mine, who are avid Harry Potter fans, really hated it. I mean, if you thought the 5th one was good, then this one is just more of the same. I didn't like the 5th one, and I didn't like this one either.

 

[Dirty Apple]

Jane Lane is so totally Goth, but then Daria is just a perky Goth anyway. Double for Aeon Flux.

Gotta watch those subliminal texts though Bob, I had trouble catching them even with pause.

If you liked the dinosaur film, you should see A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell. Classy movie

Jane Lane wasn't Goth she was just off-beat, cynical, and pessimistic... oh, ok, I see it now.
Without the obvious identifiers of heavy make-up and torn leggings I have trouble classifying someone as goth.

As to the movie, I just got back from it with my wife. I would have been happy watching it on dvd, but she wanted to see it in theaters. With that disclaimer out of the way, I'm willing to say that it was one of the more enjoyable Harry Potter films. I laughed on more than one occasion and the young romance, while cringe worthy at times, was still fun and light-hearted. The only problem with this treatment is that the book this film was based on was decidedly darker than what has been portrayed. So, much like legions before me have stated, not a bad movie at all, but I still wish they'd stayed closer to the source material.

 

[Silva]

I must say, this has me interested to see the film. It has excited some younger people on my Facebook list, but I figured it would be too kiddy for a 20 year old like myself to go watch.

Really MovieBob, if you've made me interested, then you're doing something right. I think you should have more faith in your ability to influence people. All of that stuff you said about people being set into liking or not liking the series isn't true.

I liked some of the films, and found the others appalling. The cinema audiences, equally so. I especially wasn't impressed last time a Harry Potter film was showing, when I saw toddlers being taken to a film where people are murdered and there's a lot of angst. Yes, it's not a horror film, but come on! It ruins the fiction if you have people crying loudly in the hall.

Long story short, this was a good review. I just don't know why you'd go on and on about how these details about the film are bad, then say you liked it. Why did you like it? This leaves us curious. Then again, maybe that's your secret to why we want to see it.

This post has been half-baked, since I have cold hands. Thanks for the review.

What was with all the Ron Paul and Ayn Rand Bashing. I can understand if you dont like them but why bash them in a harry potter review?

Because any mildly related critical video without some criticism of Ayn Rand is wasted. At least, that appears to be MovieBob's view. And I am inclined to agree.

Anyway, this wasn't that pointed. It was just a comparison to Magneto, which, considering Rand's belief that selfishness is a virtue and the great should only act to their own benefit, is both justified and inoffensive.

Rand herself would probably find it fair, except she wouldn't think of Magneto as a villain, which speaks volumes about her.

Jane Lane is so totally Goth, but then Daria is just a perky Goth anyway. Double for Aeon Flux.

What? Daria, perky? Did I step into an alternate universe?

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I saw a preview for Gappa once. This dinosaur movie reminds me of that, except Gappa is even lamer/more awesome. Less cleavage, but even stupider special effects and some of the worst dubbing I've heard in my life.

And Bob, stop comparing Harry Potter to X-Men! You're making me want to go watch the movies! Stop destroying my Harry Potter apathy, drat you!

Magneto rules. If any portion of the X-Men movies were good, it was because of the actors playing Professor X and Magneto. They carried the movies.

 

[Jay Cee]

Excellent and I totally agree.

But I thought that Mr. mediocrity may have attacked the writing team because the whole movie seemed a little... Metal Gear Solidy level of writing.

Even though it was pretty anti-climactic, that's the books fault. And it's a technique which works much better in a novels context.

 

[Orange Monkey]

Just think i should mention that Luna Lovegood is brilliant beyond belief and deserves her own book/movie.

 

[Reneux]

Thank you for the "Heinlien as a post menaposal Rand" Also, is'nt kind of like the classic greek theatre where the plot is known by the audience in advance, and the purpose of the drama is to put a new spin on the story. A new twist in the knickers of the protaganist, as the gods look on capriciously.

 

[Clarkarius]

How very nice that you ruined the movie for anyone who has yet to watch it... I dunno, in a different country that has yet to premiere it?

You.

Don't.

Put.

SPOILERS

In a review. Especially something from the last few minutes of the movie.

Still, it's not that big of a discovery that if you didn't watch the first movie, you are not going to watch the 6th one... The general rule for ANY film or book series. Matrix, LotR, Star Wars...


edit: Not saying that you've ruined it for me, because I have read all the books (except for the 7th, I have it on my desk, waiting for the movie first to refresh my memory).

If you read all the books then why are you complaining about spoilers?

Most people who watch the films have either read the books are know hats going to happen via a friend who has read the book or via going on the internet so the stroy line is not going to hold any surprises. All the movies do is add speacial effects and provide a visual representation of the book.

Any way as for the review I guess it was not to bad if not a tad similar to ZP in its presenatation...

EDIT: Note that this is the first movie review i've seen on the Escapist so I apologise if my comparison to ZP is inaccurate.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Time for my two cents worth

I am blindly anti-HP (which is ironic since 3 of my 4 computers have been HP ) and I got half dragged to this movie. And I thought it was fairly good... Considering the crappy story they have to hold too I mean COME ON! Evil, what are you thinking?! Hire a decent tactician, concentrate a little more on mindless slaughter a hell of a lot less on breaking windows and you'd mop the floor in 5 minutes flat!

Attempting to avoid as many spoilers as I can, the bit towards the end. Four or five high-power evil wizard break into Hogwarts and kill (someone important). Hmmm... What should we do now. Should we, perhaps, slaughter the population of the school thereby depriving the good guys of their main body of recruits and take possession of what looked to be their only defended facility? NO, let go down the the great hall, break some windows, laugh evilly and walk out. And yet everytime Dumbledore gets Harry to do his dirty work he goes to great lengths to emphasise their terrible situation and how everyones lives depend on it. Well unless everyone is really clumsy and fatally slip on broken glass there didn't seem to be a whole lot to worry about.

I could go on. Don't get me started. You were warned

Grand Admiral

 

[Legion]

Good review, much, much better than the Transformers one.

Also you are damn right there were not enough hot Goth chicks in the damn place.

You know, I tried reading the books. I liked book 1-4, and hated Harry's character in book 5.
Well, the first 100 or so pages of book 5.

As did I, it's the only series I like where I hate the main character.

 

[sln333]

The main reason to see the HP movies isn't for the main 3 characters, it's really for Snape and some other characters. As this movie review proved, the main 3 characters are too busy staring at each other to realize there's some guy who wants to kill everybody named Voldemort. Oh well.
On a side note, I'm a bit angry the seventh book is being done in two movies. It could have been done in one long movie, but it appears the makers would rather milk as much money out of us as they can.

 

[Aidan295]

Great review!

I definitely agree with your less "in the middle" romance and more "at the end" climax. It could have been better in my opinion. But it was still worth seeing.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Jane Lane is so totally Goth, but then Daria is just a perky Goth anyway. Double for Aeon Flux.

What? Daria, perky? Did I step into an alternate universe?

She's on MTV. A non-perky Goth wouldn't be seen dead on that ...trend wagon...

 

[Littaly]

I would watch When Dinosaurs Walked th Earth without a doubt if it wasn't for the fact that last time I watched a movie you said was awesome it sucked balls. Seriously, Equilibrium was horrible, not even the action was decent

Other than that I'm always looking forward to your stuff, be it games or movies, you're really good at what you do. Keep it up.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Maybe it's just me but the audio didn't sync up with the visuals. And a lot of it was fuzzy.