A Day With The Wizards: Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

So today after a harrowing day on the carousel of hell I finally decided to go catch Harry Potter & gang in action as I was curious as to how “dark” the movie actually was. Lack of sleep and 5 hours on the carousel of hell had made me edgy and cranky to a point where I was contemplating buying a few thousand pods of garlic to throw at the government official I was dealing with all day(Carousel of Hell a.k.a anything involving paperwork and the government. You simply run in circles and from pillar to post). So after a brief revival session (caffeine, internet and no bullshit) at my buddy’s place who was with me all day, bless his soul ^_^. We headed to the theater where we were 15 minutes early which was a BIG mistake as there was music blaring at ear wall ripping decibels which supposedly were the latest “AWESOME” hits. Lack of sleep makes both me and my buddy hyper (me even more hyperactive than usual) so we were desperately trying to ignore the sounds and thankfully the ordeal did not last too long.

I did not bother reading reviews or watching trailers nor did I dare read the book before the movie lest I got into “critic mode” and ruined the movie for everyone else(no one would like to see a tiny 5 foot chick claw and hiss at the movie screen). After watching a few credits at the beginning, the movie finally started. I was worried about falling asleep midway but I must say that the effects were trippy enough to keep me awake. The scene at the beginning involving the Death Eaters was really cool and I must say that the effects were much sexier than some in the Transformers movie (which my darling would surely disagree). It impressed me and reassured me that I was watching a “dark” movie but not for long. We are taken to a scene where Potter is “flirting” (WHEN?, WHY? AND HOW? )with a waitress before he is whisked away by Dumbledore to Slughorn’s hideout. A big applause to Jim Broadbent (Professor from Chronicles of Narnia, Bridget’s father & the owner of the Moulin Rouge), he truly emulated Horace Slughorn in the movie while Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) looked slightly less constipated to my surprise (I think he is finally learning new emotions) but every scene involving Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) and Radcliffe (Harry) reminded me of Gandalf and Hobbit (any of them will do) from The Lord of The Rings not that  I was expecting much from the duo. I was extremely happy to see Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) and Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) again but utterly disappointed at the lack of inventiveness/imagination involving Bonham-Carter’s role, they reduced her character from that of a bloodthirsty psychopath to that of a rabid hissing cockroach randomly looking eerie and hissing some “evil” lines. Rickman was spectacular as usual while Helen McCroy (Narcissa Malfoy) was sadly portrayed as a cold hearted mother rather than the book version where she is truly disturbed by the role given to her son, though it is the director’s vision and I respect his film I cannot tolerate Narcissa’s desperation and sadness turned into something mellow.

Like my friend Saint Michael (saint-michael.trap17.com) said, the movie was awfully cheery for a dark movie. According to me it focused on the wrong parts of the book, yes the hormone rushes felt by every kid was a necessary part of the movies but they over killed it by adding the cookies spiked with love potion and the Quidditch match (where Ron is made to believe that he has liquid luck in his body). But hats off to Emma Watson for her brilliantly portrayed role of Hermione Granger, I am sure that every girl who sees her could easily relate to the pain involving love. I especially enjoyed the moment when she slung mud (?) birds at Ron when he and Lavender walk in on Harry & Hermione talking, Rupert Grint looked creepy and stupid as usual which made him the perfect actor for “Ron” (how chicks find him & Daniel hot is beyond me). The Burrow’s destruction was a scene that did not deserve ANY attention, quoting my buddy “what was that? Why? What is with that Hello, we are here to destroy, we destroyed your home… Ok? Now we leave… Bye bye” I mean to say that if the director wanted a scene involving the Death Eaters then he should have given them A LOT of justice, who has ever heard of  Lestrange NOT using an unforgivable curse??. Fine I forgive him(yates) for that but he is not forgiven for not showing us more Pensieve scenes, the one involving child Voldemort (Tom riddle) and Dumbledore (Looking like a rabbi) was abysmal. When Ginny kissed Harry, mentally I went “FINALLY” but then went “THAT’s IT?’ phooey. The Katie Bell scene was purely “exorcist” in nature >_<. Like I said, the main part of the book involving “THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE” and “HORCRUXES” was miserably reduced and I failed to connect with Harry’s devotion to his headmaster (the scene where he force feeds Dumbledore the potion) and the music was definitely an overkill in the scene where Dumbledore rescues Harry from the Inferi (Reminded me of Gandalf riding his white horse towards the two towers which was perfect there but yucky here). The ending in itself was real quick and everyone “mourning” was shallow but I could not help shed a tear because of my experience with losing D (How I did not run away or flop to the floor crying was unknown even to me). The last scene was EXPECTED as no Harry Potter films goes without the three heroes pledging their loyalty to GOOD and each other. Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton a.k.a Nazi boy which my darling humorously calls him) was a good character wasted, his outward expressions of gloom and misery were like that of a 2 year old upset over not getting any candy, the last scene where he is crying due to his internal conflict was ok but I could not connect to his pain though I understood it. A loud applause to Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) who nailed the character perfectly, Ginny was both strong and vivacious with much better screen time. Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) was perfect in the clingy, head over heels role. Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith) is a perfect example of how a cameo looks; poor thing is reduced to a prop which is pure blasphemy as she is an equally important role. I was particular aghast at how they portrayed Tom Riddle, he sadly reminded me of Damien or the neighborhood bully instead of the charming, lovable boy he showed himself as when he was in school, the boy version screamed Damien because he did not look confused or conflicted but simply reeked of cocky “evil” vibes nor did he seem impressed when Dumbledore set the closet on fire (Indeed the child is not human >_>). Lupin and Tonks were unnecessary too as they practically did NOTHING in the movie Evanna Lynch was extremely hilarious as she returned as the crazy but slightly omniscient Luna Lovegood (my buddy found her “hot” for reasons known only by him *shudders*) Daniel Radcliffe though better than the early movies was shallow as usual which is wrong as he is the protagonist. Quite honestly I had expected the movie to be like its predecessors but was not expecting a straight forward butchering. It felt like I went hunting and shot a rabbit but when I did find my dead rabbit, I found nothing but a mere head rather than the entire dead animal.

This movie is good for those who have not read the series, to those who are loyal to the books should not watch the movie after refreshing their memory of the storyline because reading the book before or immediately after watching the movie might send you in a rabid frenzy against the director or Rowling. I personally do not have the interest in murdering the director after the butchering because in the end it was his perspective of how the story should be continued. But it had its funny moments like the part where Hermione helps Ron win and particularly when Harry goes “But I am the chosen one” and she (Hermione) whacks him real hard to bring him back to normal. I admit that the part where Ron is under the effect of the love potion says “No (I have not seen her) but can you introduce me to her?” was funny but got dragged. Daniel Radcliffe should definitely be slapped or have his foot stuck inside his throat for saying “Slughorn’s tragedy will outweigh the comedy” because hands down the comedy totally outweighed the “tragedy” (which I did not find).

This movie deserves a one star whether you have or have not read the book, only for the perfectly constructed comedy and visual effects. Why Harry Potter (Radcliffe) is always morally (and emotionally unscathed in the movies is something I will never know. And I definitely agree with SM (saint michael) that adding an hour or so more would still not have made a dent into the books.

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