AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009)

james0246 · 2009-07-17, 17:02

Saw this film the other day. Despite it's many faults and problems, this is easily the best Potter film since Prisoner (which is still the best Harry Potter film (and book) in my opinion). The acting was very good (Michael Gambon finally is able to step into the role of Dumbledore; Alan Rickman is finally allowed to act, which is the first time that he has been able to breathe some life into the character of Snape since the first film); Jim Broadbent was sublime (then he usually is), and managed to turn an annoying and boring character from the books into an interesting even exciting character for the film; the three main leads finally seem to be comfortable in their roles (potentially since they now know how the series is going to end) and are allowed to explore their relationship together quite nicely); screenwriter Steve Kloves finally figured out how to adapt a Harry Potter book without simly making the film a collection of best moments from the books (something the 2nd, 5th, and especially the 4th films suffered from greatly); I especially liked the changes made to the various romantic relationships: no more does Ron start dating Lavendar because of a fight with hsi sister (which made no sense), and no longer does Harry suddenly throw himself at Ginny (for no real reason), istead the various progression of the relationships seem wholely organic; and finally, the direction by David Yates was fairly good, if a bit cumbersome at times (his use of colours, though, was quite beautiful at times, and greatly added detail to the various emotional scenes, etc).

There are, of course, problems. While it is nice to see new faces in the various houses, too many characters were excised from the story (Bill, Fleur, and Scrimgeour), and others make seemingly random apperances (most notably David Thewlis (Lupin) and Natalia Tena (Tonks) who randomly appear and are already in a relationship, despite no knowledge of a potential relationship from the last film or in this film) only to leave just as fast. Added to that, for a film entitled the Half-Blood Prince, the actual revelation of the identity of the Prince is very anti-climatic (To be fair, the book didn't do much of a better job with the revelation).

In the end, I would give this film a solid 7.5-7.7 out of 10. Good performances and interesting adaptation make up for a slightly loose story and sometimes weak direction.

2009-07-17, 17:02	Link #65
james0246 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: East Cupcake	Saw this film the other day. Despite it's many faults and problems, this is easily the best Potter film since Prisoner (which is still the best Harry Potter film (and book) in my opinion). The acting was very good (Michael Gambon finally is able to step into the role of Dumbledore; Alan Rickman is finally allowed to act, which is the first time that he has been able to breathe some life into the character of Snape since the first film); Jim Broadbent was sublime (then he usually is), and managed to turn an annoying and boring character from the books into an interesting even exciting character for the film; the three main leads finally seem to be comfortable in their roles (potentially since they now know how the series is going to end) and are allowed to explore their relationship together quite nicely); screenwriter Steve Kloves finally figured out how to adapt a Harry Potter book without simly making the film a collection of best moments from the books (something the 2nd, 5th, and especially the 4th films suffered from greatly); I especially liked the changes made to the various romantic relationships: no more does Ron start dating Lavendar because of a fight with hsi sister (which made no sense), and no longer does Harry suddenly throw himself at Ginny (for no real reason), istead the various progression of the relationships seem wholely organic; and finally, the direction by David Yates was fairly good, if a bit cumbersome at times (his use of colours, though, was quite beautiful at times, and greatly added detail to the various emotional scenes, etc). There are, of course, problems. While it is nice to see new faces in the various houses, too many characters were excised from the story (Bill, Fleur, and Scrimgeour), and others make seemingly random apperances (most notably David Thewlis (Lupin) and Natalia Tena (Tonks) who randomly appear and are already in a relationship, despite no knowledge of a potential relationship from the last film or in this film) only to leave just as fast. Added to that, for a film entitled the Half-Blood Prince, the actual revelation of the identity of the Prince is very anti-climatic (To be fair, the book didn't do much of a better job with the revelation). In the end, I would give this film a solid 7.5-7.7 out of 10. Good performances and interesting adaptation make up for a slightly loose story and sometimes weak direction.