I recently got the opportunity to see the movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I have both praise and criticism for the movie. You may not agree with me on some points. I encourage you to y-mail me your opinions about the movie. I am always glad to talk about Harry Potter!
This article contains spoilers about the movie and book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I'm not going to post a warning before each one. If you haven't seen the sixth movie or read the book, you might not want to read this article.
The Cast
Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter
Rupert Grint - Ron Weasley
Emma Watson - Hermione Granger
Michael Gambon - Albus Dumbledore
Bonnie Wright - Ginny Weasley
Alan Rickman - Severus Snape
Helena Bonham Carter - Bellatrix Lestrange
Tom Felton - Draco Malfoy
Jim Broadbent - Horace Slughorn
Helen McCrory - Narcissa Malfoy
Dave Legeno - Fenrir Greyback
Summary
Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts for their sixth year. Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are becoming more and more powerful. Security at Hogwarts is tightened. Throughout the year, Harry has meetings with Dumbledore to view memories in the pensive. They learn that Lord Voldemort has created seven horcruxes, which means that the seven horcruxes have to be destroyed before Lord Voldemort can be killed. Horace Slughorn assists them in their work by giving them a memory from when he was a teacher at Hogwarts. In the memory, Slughorn tells Tom Riddle about horcruxes, and how to create them.
Throughout the movie, Harry crushes on Ginny and eventually they become a couple. Hermione crushes on Ron, who has a very annoying girlfriend. The movie never confirms that Ron likes Hermione, but in one scene he mutters her name in his sleep, and in another he compliments her appearance.
Dumbledore takes Harry on a mission to destroy a horcrux. They go to a cave where Dumbledore must drink a weakening potion and they are attacked by merpeople. When they return to the castle, they find themselves trapped in a tower by Malfoy and the Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort previously ordered Malfoy to kill Dumbledore. When Malfoy ends up unable to complete the task, Snape kills Dumbledore. The Death Eaters flee. We see a few shots of Dumbledore's funeral, and the movie ends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione planning to hunt for horcruxes.
Praise
- Unlike the 5th movie, the lighting and special effects were very good. I think that the sixth movie was bigger and better than all the other movies. I was very impressed by the fire coming out of Dumbledore's wand, and the merpeople. It was all very realistic.
- The main characters, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, are very good actors. Throughout the whole movie, I never once remembered that I was watching those three. Instead, I was watching Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. All three of them really got into their characters.
- Another impressive performance was from Alan Rickman. His trademark silky voice really got him into the character of Severus Snape.
- The movie was entertaining. It was just plain fun to watch! Humor was used throughout the whole movie. The other five movies were extremely serious and sometimes got boring. In this movie, whenever things started to get boring, mild humor was used.
Criticism
- The movie was very different from the book. The movie was 2 hours and 33 minutes long, but some very crucial scenes were missing. For instance, the Dursleys are not mentioned at all in the whole movie. Yes, they are small characters, but they really add to the story. Harry's feelings about Sirius also were not mentioned. In the book, we got a look at how Harry was really feeling. Harry and Ginny's relationship was more detailed in the book. In the movie, it felt like their relationship happened over the course of a day or two, and although they kissed, they never got very close.
- The scene where Bellatrix burned down the Weasley's house wasn't necessary. It wasn't in the book, and added confusion to the movie.
- The classes at Hogwarts were hardly ever in the movie. In previous movies, we saw what the students were doing in their classes. Also, the opening banquet was shortened. We didn't get to see what was being eaten, and we didn't get to hear Dumbledore use the "nonsense words" he is famous for.
- The only actor in the movie whose performance wasn't up to par is Michael Gambon. He never delivered his lines with emotion. In the scene in the tower when Snape was about to kill Dumbledore, you couldn't even tell that Dumbledore was pleading with Snape. In the book, the relationship with Dumbledore and Harry was clear. In the movie, you couldn't tell how Dumbledore felt about Harry, because the relationship was never developed.
My Rating
Overall, this was a pretty good movie. It is not my favorite movie, but I did enjoy watching it.
Originality - 1 star
Writing/Script - 1 star
Acting - 1/2 star
Characters - 1/2 star
Special Effects - 1 star
Overall - 4 stars
