The wait is over. Tuesday night was a sleepy, well-worth-it feast of awesomeness. I'm talking, of course, about the midnight release of the much-anticipated sixth and third-to-last Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In a nutshell, it was FABULOUS. Being back at Hogwarts was as magical as I would have expected. Quite simply, Half-Blood Prince delves into Lord Voldemort's past through a series of memories. We learn who he is, and what Harry will have to do to kill him. Meanwhile, inside Hogwarts, hormones rage, while outside, Death Eaters pillage. I came home from the film at 3:30 AM and had a head full of thoughts, ready to be transformed into blog form... so we'll see how many of those opinions stayed with me in the day since. I'm going to assume you've either read the book, seen the film, or don't care about being spoiled if you're reading this, so please continue with this understanding in place. I always love midnight or opening showings of films because the audience is very engaged. The movie means a lot to the people who show up to these showtimes - otherwise they would not have waited 3+ hours in line (or in our case, thankfully, in the auditorium itself). The atmosphere of excitement and anticipation was nearly tangible in our theater. First of all, I found out that our particular auditorium - #4 - was the first to sell out, so the fans in their were probably some of the more dedicated of the lot. People were dressed up (we had a great Dumbledore and an awesome Mad-Eye Moody), sporting T-shirts and Hogwarts colors, posing for photos by a cardboard cutout of Harry that some awesome person brought in, and even dueling, wizard-style, in the aisles. There were deafening cheers when the projector was first turned on, when the trailers started, for each individual trailer, when the WB symbol came up, AND when the HP logo appeared. (I'm serious about the cheering - the decibel levels in our theater would have rivaled a rock concert!) People literally laughed out loud at every funny moment, gasped when it was scary, whistled at romantic moments, and said "aww" when characters were sad. As an audience, we were a living, breathing extension of the film, as much AT Hogwarts, as if we had leaned into our own Penseive and found ourselves among the characters we love so dearly.
On to the film itself... First off, I simply have to say that the movie was unexpectedly funny. Hilarious, even. I hardly stopped laughing, giggling, or chuckling heartily until the final climactic 20 minutes. HBP is rated PG, the first film to not be PG13 since the much lighter first and second films. Of course, under the laughter, the darkness was still there - as the opening sequence, development of Tom Riddle, and tragic ending will attest, but there was a comedic lens present for much of the 2 hours and 33 minutes. Rupert Grint proved, once again, to be a master of comedy... but Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and even Michael Gambon stretched their comedic muscles as well. Overall, this was excellent. I don't think I've had this much plain ol' FUN in a HP movie to date. There were a few laughs that I think they could have done without - for a few moments it felt like the filmmakers just weren't taking it seriously... But overall, it was a great direction for them to take. The two Deathly Hallows movies are going to be so emotionally intense and action packed that perhaps it was good to get in a bit of comedy before we hurtled in the other direction.
Let me take a step back. Overall, surveying the entire film, I LOVED it. Many more of the favorite moments of the book seemed to be represented on film (compared to the other movies) - they really managed to fit a lot in. Parts that I would have guessed would fall by the wayside in favor of the main plot were there, which was awesome. I'm not sure if I'd call it my favorite movie - "favorites" are always hard for me to choose, and I'd have to see it again when I'm fully awake to be able to determine just how fantastic it is... But it was certainly better than OotP, and certainly 100% enjoyable. Unlike other films, I've had a fun time lately listening to others' opinions - friends, critics, and strangers alike. In exiting the theater on Tuesday night (well, actually Wednesday morning), I heard a surprising amount of disappointment. The girl behind me said something akin to "what the hell was that?" - which did surprise me. In a twist, though, most of my friends who are HARCORE fans of HP are more than thrilled - calling it the best film yet, their favorite, absolutely praising it to the MAX. Critics seem to lean in this direction as well, calling it the best Potter yet, praising the script, acting, cinematography, etc. Not to be discriminating, but I definitely lean toward the opinions of the people who live and breath Harry Potter, as well as those who know what good movies are made of, versus those from whom I've heard dislike. I'd like to have a conversation with someone who didn't like the movie, to find out the specific faults they found.
Along those lines, though, I'd like to point out a particular attitude I have hard among my HP fans that makes me rather happy. I have heard many comments akin to "I LOVED IT! I have a few issues or things I would've changed, but overall, it was AWESOME!" This is how you have to approach books -> movies. There are going to be changes you don't like, parts they left out, or things that didn't translate... but if you get caught up in nitpicking each and every one of these, you'll have a very disappointing experience! In the end, you have to let go, realize that FILM and TEXT are two entirely different mediums, and go along for the ride. For me, there is such a thrill in seeing Hogwarts brought to life - however they choose to do it - that I see no point in ruining the experience by griping about what wasn't there. Sure, in 30 years, some filmmaker might decide to remake the HP films, or they might do a miniseries in which they bring EVERY moment on the page to life, or pigs may fly... but for now, this is what we have to work with. ENJOY IT!
Having said this, hopefully I've made clear that I liked the film and am able to see past any issues I had. That's not to say I didn't have issues. I would like to take a moment to go through the couple of things I would've liked changed, in a perfect world. One of the biggest complaints has to do with the scene at the Burrow, in which the dear little Weasley house gets attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback, Harry and Ginny attempt to fight them off, and the entire house is engulfed in flames. This scene is NOT in the book, and was deliberately added for the film. I knew this was coming - it was reported probably a year ago on Leaky, and I was surprised when I heard about it. I do understand why it was in there and the purpose it served, from a filmmaking perspective particularly... In just that small little scene, the stakes were raised, and it they managed to show that the danger was everywhere, that our heroes were not immune. The romantic plot was advanced. Etc. And it was a cool scene, cinematically - with the swirling grasses, Ginny and Harry fighting, the spells flying back and forth... But, as I've heard discussed, this goes against the book, was not necessary, and disproves JKR's adamant rule that the Burrow is a safe haven for Harry that will not be touched (until DH). Overall, though, I would have liked to see this screen-time used somewhere else. The movie is already quite long, so if they could have displaced this time with a more worthwhile scene, I would have been happier (more on this in a moment).
Additionally, as I've already said, the comedy was a little stretched at points - there were plenty of moments that were funny, and were made even funnier by a few good quips and good acting... but at a certain point, it felt like a bit much. I think the film needed a few more dramatic punches. In other words, it needed to be PG13, and Yates and Kloves needed to take it a bit more seriously. This came to a head, for me, in the movie's end. The climactic cave scene was great, but it leveled out too much when they got back to Hogwarts. In the book, the final moments after Dumbledore's death are a mad rush of swirling emotion and pain. Everyone is fighting, it's not clear who is injured or dead, Snape has betrayed them all, Harry shouts coward, and then the cool anger of "Don't call me coward" brings it all to an tearful yet determined end. THIS NEEDED TO BE STRONGER. I would have liked to see the Burrow scene removed in favor of a bit more action at the end. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, as well as the rest of the Order should have been fighting. The stakes needed to be raised in order to throw us properly into the raw world of DH. I am personally of the opinion that Dumbledore's funeral would have been stunning on film. The scene they had in place worked, but it didn't pack the punch I would have liked to see. In short, the ending of the film didn't take my breath away, as I would have liked.
But back to what I did like for a moment. The acting was SUPERB. Everyone felt more comfortable in their characters. Daniel was the strong Harry, resigned to his fate of the Chosen One, accepting his responsibility, the danger, and yet still a student living out his time at Hogwarts. He loses his mentor but turns his pain and heartbreak into determination to win out over Voldemort. Rupert was hilarious, Ron in every way, confused about his feelings, awkward at Quidditch, and yet able to come into his own in time for his emotionally charged role in DH. Emma's acting has improved in leaps and bounds. The breathless speech and eyebrow-acting were both nearly gone from her perforamnce. I felt for her in her pain, in her platonic love for Harry, and her not-so-platonic love for Ron. Michael Gambon finally stepped it up as Dumbledore, returning to the beloved character of the books instead of the throw-Harry-against-the-wall stranger that we had seen from him before. Jim Broadbent as Slughorn was hilarious, perfect, magical, well-cast in every way. And then there's Tom Felton, who I daresay stole the film as the dark and haunted Draco Malfoy. Between "knowing" him from Twitter (and consequently feeling more like he's a "real person" out there), and the turn that his character naturally takes in this part of the story, I sympathized with him like never before. He was no longer the archetypal bully, the comedic relief, the snivelly ferret we had seen. He was incredible. And then there's Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonahm-Carter, newbie Helen McCrory, Bonnie Hunt... all who stepped up their game, gave their all, and threw down the gauntlet in preparation for DH.
Yes, I'm mentioning DH a lot. It's hard to think of this film without moving that train of thought straight along to the final two films that are currently in production. It's hard not to think of the end. In a lot of ways, this film served as the Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi... It set up the final chapter. This is the first film to come to theaters since the final book's publication, and I think it showed. The end is in sight, though still two years away. We are headed on the path that will take us to the walk into the forest, the final battle with Voldemort, to 'All is Well." *sniffle*
But we're not there yet.
As one final note, the soundtrack nerd in me has to get a word in. I'm not a huge fan of Nicholas Hooper's work - (I'm actually a bit glad he's not scoring DH and hope with every fiber of my being that we get John Williams back). His music is just a bit on the 'meh' side. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong... But unlike some movies, in which the music blends in effortlessly yet stands alone beautifully, it's not as melodic and theme-heavy as I'd like to see. The Weasley and Slughorn themes are great, as is the track "In Noctem," but what does this guy have against Hedwig's Theme? That's one beautiful piece of music and I would have liked to hear it a bit more.
So, I think that's it from me. Without a doubt I will see the film again with my parents - we may wait to see it in 3D IMAX after July 29, if I have the patience, and we'll see how my opinion changes with a second or third viewing. Perhaps the next time I re-read the book, I'll find other issues or be disappointed by something that didn't make it in the film, but for now, I'm pretty satisfied and hope HBP KICKS ASS in the box office this week. (It did $22 million in midnight releases, beating The Dark Knight!) Other than that, I want to ask for comments! If you saw the movie, tell me what you think below! What did you like? Not like? Feel free to agree or disagree with anything i said!
Cheers! <3
3 comments:
Well said! You have pretty much given my view of the movie in a nutshell. If i were to add to your critique, it would be a bit about the cinimatography, lighting/makeup and oversimplification.
Of course, I am more inclined to critique the cinimatography than the acting or character development. On that note: wow.
The CGI was as close to perfect as I could have expected. Quiddich was wonderful, especially as compared to the (sick and horrible) games we sat through in movies 1 and 2.
The fire and water were both way beyond expecations, (probably why they put them in the previews).
As far as lighting and actual shooting of real actors, I'm still not sure. All of the dark and moody scenes with draco (defitely stealing most of the thunder as a character in this movie) were fantastic. There's no big color in any scene that includes Draco. He's lit and his makeup is done and we see as well as FEEL his internal conflict. The symbolism of the birds (killing the white one, while the black one lives) is fantastic (especially if even I could understand it). BUT, it felt a little jumpy going from a near-monochrome to a scene with Ginny or Hermione (nearly all of which were full-to-bursting with color). Its clear they did that on purpose... but the effect was rather unpleasantly jarring all the same. Lighting themes were well done. Most of the girls were lit straight on and we got their expressions and (more importantly) got to see all their features. The guys (especially conflicted characters) were given less even coverage, and less light in general. I liked that a lot. It gives me the general mood of a scene at a glance before I've even taken in what is happening in the scene.
I'm not sure how happy I am with Hermione's character becoming so obviously distraught over Ron. As I recall (though it has been a while since I read the book), she very rarely loses her cool, let alone admit outright to Harry that she feels strongly for Ron. (nothing like the "what's it like, when you see Dean and Ginny?" line we saw). It's cute, and Hollywood does simplify relationships like this... but I'm not sure it should be that simple.
I could go on and on and on and on....
But i think the novel I have managed to write will suffice.
Time to see it again!
I posted a blog entry on the movie too. I couldn't help it I was so over come when I left the theater. I wish we had an awesome crowd like you did. We didn't. It was loud and the people behind me were awful. One of the ladies had never read any of the books or seen any of the other movies, they laughed when Dumbledore died and at the end they were saying they hated it. But on the way out they were the only ones being negative and that made me feel better. When Dumbledore & Harry meet in the train station I turned to Jay and mouthed "that's wrong" (I really wanted the scene with the Dursley's and the drinking glasses) but stopped right away promising myself I would just watch and not pick apart the movie and with the in mind I really loved it. Of course as a lover of the books I could pick this movie apart and ruin it for myself but I am trying not too. I really loved it. Of course I have some issues but on the whole---CHEER!!!!!!!
Generally speaking, we're on the same page. I think this was the best movie to date. Siriusly. But I was really disappointed in the lack of a battle - why exactly did they bring in Fenrir if we weren't going to see him attack Bill or at least see its aftermath? And I think if they'd cut out that Burrow scene, they could have spent more time doing up a battle or at least giving us a funeral or some more Dumbledore closure. But I thought the acting was fantastic, the flow was so much better than OotP and on the whole, I loved it.
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