Watching
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is like living through a melancholy dream. Even more than
The Order of the Phoenix, this film is nearly devoid of bright color, reflecting the dreary mood of the story. This is actually rather strange, as
Order of the Phoenix ended on a slightly upbeat and hopeful note. However, as a mostly melancholic, subdued film,
The Half-Blood Prince is wonderful.
Right from the start, it's obvious that this is one of the most visually-impressive fantasy films ever created. The cinematography never ceases to amaze, and the extreme level of detail and realism that accompanies the already-striking artistic style rivals that of the
Lord of the Rings films. It's especially satisfying to watch the perfectly-rendered Quidditch match in this film and realize just how far the visual effects have come since
The Sorcerer's Stone. Each magical spell, gust of snow-filled wind, and billow of black smoke looks perfectly realistic.
Despite the dark tone of the overall plot, this actually may be the most genuinely humorous Potter film. For a good 80% of the movie, the main characters have little more to do than simply live their lives. It might sound boring or pointless, but there's so much character development and genuine humor that it's completely entertaining the whole way through.
One surprising—but not unwelcome—aspect of the story is the heavy emphasis on the close, loving relationship between Harry and Hermione. It's touching in an unexpected way, and goes to show just how strong their friendship really is.
Even Draco Malfoy is given more depth, as we see for the first time that he is a conflicted character, rather than a one-dimensional bigoted bully.
The Half-Blood Prince is not entirely without disappointments, however. While the dark seriousness of the story is not necessarily a bad thing, it does take away some of the "punch" that
The Order of the Phoenix excelled at.
Another problem with the film is the fact that it lacks a real ending. While
The Order of the Phoenix managed to create a conclusion where one really didn't exist, here we don't even have any sort of closure at all. Although we are told exactly where the characters are going and what's happened at the end, we still don't have the emotional closure that is necessary for the film to work on a purely emotional level. This very well may have been the intent of the filmmakers, as Dumbledore's death is meant to be an emotional blow, but the simple fact is that the ending is not satisfying. It feels as though we are given an invisible "to be continued" message when we shouldn't have needed one.
However, for all of its narrative flaws, the film is far from crippled because of them.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a wonderful script, well-executed humor, stunning visuals, and great characterization.
Eight points for Gryffindor.
8/10
3 comments:
I agree with practically everything you have said, except for the last bit. While I too picked out the "flaws" of the movie... I did not feel it was lacking "fun" harry and ron's potion segements were quite fun for me, as well as ron's relationship with lavander and hermione throughout. Yet, I cannot criticize the darkness or the slow moving pace, simply because I know the book also had that feel. I was never "bored" but it lacked that fast action that the previous books/movies all had. So really the movie reflected the book. This also pertains to the ending as well, there was no real ending in the book. It very much had a "to be continued" feel to it.
I was actually fairly impressed, This movie is by far the best book to movie "Stay true" so far.
(I did however miss a few scenes... particularly dumbledore chewing out harry's relatives, Tonks and Lupin's engagement/marriage, the end fight at the castle)
Yet, overall they did a great job in the time phrame that they had. The scences moved from one to the other seamlessly, the videography was good, the directing was wonderful. Even Harry, whom on most occasions I feel lacks good acting skills, performed fairly convincingly throughout. He was perfect under "lady luck's" influence.
I also thought that all of the supporting actors and actressess outdid themselves. I could watch the whole movie again and simply concentrate on the supporting roles and be happy, they were brilliant.
Interesting; I always thought that Daniel Radcliffe's acting was one of the best aspects of the Potter franchise, especially in films 1, 3, and 5.
I agree with most of what you said. Yes, the film was fantastic visually and a complement to modern digital animation. Although the gray and melancholy colors of the movie were different from its formers, it was new in a refreshing way.
Although a good movie, I did think the sixth film strayed quite a lot from the book. I don't know if you have read the book, but if you have you'll have to admit that it was a disappointment for those fans who expected the words to come to life on the screen. I didn't really agree with the movie's portrayal of Harry as a rebel. Dumbledore's comment, "Harry, you need a shave," was rather ridiculous.
I do agree that the characters were granted much more depth, and that the visual and script were excellent.
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