I was thinking of alternate titles to my movie review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the formidable Harry Potter film franchise. Here are some of what I came up with:
- "Harry Potter Grows Up"
- "When Harry Met Ginny"
- "It's Official: Harry Potter enters 'Twilight' Territory!"
If you notice from the alternate titles I cooked up, there is a common theme: the film reflects Harry's maturity. The upside is a tighter focus on relationships. The downside? Less wand-wielding.
As a teen drama, "Half-Blood Prince" ain't that bad-- it features hang-ups of early teen romance, jealousy, unrequited love, infatuation, and awkwardness. I think hardcore Harry Potter fans would be disappointed with how the film primarily focuses a good two-thirds of it on the love situations of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ginny (Bonnie Wright).
The movie clocks in at two and a half hours, but as someone who has read the book, the film really sheds a lot from the book's material. Case in point: gone is the unraveling of the mystery of who the Half-Blood Price is. I feel the film just managed to set the stage for the final two films of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Patrs 1 & 2.
If you come into the theater expecting Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be an all-out magic battle between good and evil, you will be disappointed (or find yourself sleeping one hour into the movie). Director David Yates puts the magic on the characters' growth and relationship this time around.
Rating: 3.5/5
Technorati: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
yes i noticed that there were less wand duels here, and i think they focused on the love story side of the book, since i also think that the 6th part is kinda dark and heavy than the previous harry potters. But I like it still, I just think that they will make up for the less wand battles on the 7th installment since that is really an action packed story. And oh, more acting for daniel radcliff, more practice to make it convincing.
ReplyDeleteI agree!! i was specially disappointed with why they never touched on the subject of half blood price.. For Christ's sake, the novel was titled Harry Potter and the half blood prince..there got to be some relevance to it!! Again Dumbledore's death also was shown so suddenly and out of the blue that people who have not read the book might not even feel half the sadness readers feel on reading the book. I remember i was in tears after his death!!
ReplyDeleteI loved the shot of the quidditch match here, though i was disappointed with the river scene where Harry and Dumbledore go to find the horcrux!! Overall.. as u said..more of romance and less of magic..though i feel that its also difficult to squeeze a 600 page book in to 2 and a half hours!
Dark, thrilling, and occasionally quite funny, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is also visually stunning and emotionally satisfying.
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