Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Books on the Big Screen - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

It has been forever since I have posted anything, and a big part of that is I have not had time to read much. I was prepping for my Harry Potter pre-movie party. And let me tell you that took a lot of my time!

One thing I will do periodically is give my review of how the movie biz interprets some of my favorite books.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is perhaps my favorite book in the entire series. I love how much information we get about Voldemort, what Harry has to do, and how in depth it is. I love seeing the struggle in Draco Malfoy. Previously he was just a git. Now we see a bit of his internal struggles and why he is the way he is. Professor Snape starts to take a new role and JK Rowling does an INCREDIBLE job with giving you more information, but still not being clear about his true character.

With all of this in mind the previews for the movie looked action packed and as if it would contain all of that vital information we get in the books. Sadly, I was dissapointed in that aspect. It very lightly skims the information that we need, or completely skips it, or messes it up with a line from a character that isn't better explained (ie. "How do you know if something is a horcrux professor?" "It could be any old thing laying around." ....um technically yes, but Dumbledore went on to explain his theories on what Voldemort sought out as his Horcruxes, because they weren't just any old objects!).

What WAS shown was done very well. The inferi were terrifying, Dumbledore was more relateable, the acting was better, the direction was better, etc. I just think the screenplay needed a lot of help. More focus on the important things and less on the humor.

Oh and the kiss with Ginny was very anti-climactic. I mean really, Daniel Radcliffe now needs lifts in his shoes when doing scenes with the Ginny actress. Sigh.

What did you think?

5 comments:

Sara said...

I completely agree. 100%. Especially about the lifts. Or strategic filming - they did it for Tom Cruise, they can do it for Daniel. He's supposed to be TALL! And as for all the important info they skipped, skimmed, or changed? Don't get me started. It was a fun, good show, but nothing like it could (should) have been.

Ratliffs said...

Trevor and I are of the opinion that this movie was more made to be the calm before the storm. With making the 7th movie into two movies, we think it's going to be BIG and action packed. There was a lot less music in this one. You were able to feel your own emotions through out it. We really enjoyed the movie. It gave a good show of comradory (sp?) that will be needed in the next movies.

Aubrey said...

I can see that, but it's not supposed to be the calm....The Death Eaters are openly attacking Muggles and Wizards, Harry finds out about Voldy's dark past and how far he went into dark magic to stay alive, and Dumbledore dies....doesn't sound like a calm plot to me! Which is my issue with the movie...they focused too much on the calm. Honestly, probably down there just above movie 3 for me...and I HATE movie 3.

Torri said...

I think for a movie and how movies work it was well done. And for the stuff left out, yes some of it was a bit irritating, but I have found for myself that I need to enjoy the movie as just that a movie, and the books are background. That for those of us who enjoyed the books and then the movies have the inside track. And for those who haven't read them and just watch the movies are still getting a decent story even if it isn't in my opinion, the Best story/ version.

Angela said...

I was surprised how much I really enjoyed the movie ... usually I find myself thinking too much about what was left out or done differently than the book. I think it has been so long since I read this book that I didn't remember enough to take issue with the movie. Once I re-read the book I'm sure I'll change my mind. I will almost always prefer the book to the movie as the movies are rarely (or almost never) as good as the books they were based on. But it's usually still fun to see the story come to life on the screen.