Posted by Scott in Fantasy, Review | 15 comments
Review: ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ from a 13 year old Potter Fanboy!
The new characters of Lavender Brown and Professor Slughorn are played wonderfully and add to the movie. Unfortunately, several favorite characters have only bit parts and their presence at Hogwarts is missed. Alan Rickman does a great job of portraying Professor Snape and making you hate him while still wondering if he is good or bad. The movie has a good mix of comedy, intensity and even romance.
The special effects were great as ever. At times the movie seemed rushed, but this was understandable due to the size of the book. Fans of the book will enjoy Harry and Dumbledore meeting Slughorn, Quidditch and Narcissa Malfoy’s presence. They will also notice several key elements missing that may disappoint them. That being said, the movie hits on the most important elements of the story and is a great lead-in to the final movies.
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
what a great review. You should have Potter Fanboy write more reviews for your website it would bring a fresh new perspective. Great job!
i totally agree with Potter Fanboy. I have read the book and i was a bit disappointed that some of my favorite parts have been taken out or switched around.
A really disappointing film… have you seen the many praises from critics???!!! I don't think they ever read the book!! J. K. Rowling should put her foot up someone's *** for this movie!!
Harry Po
Harry Potter HBP was no good. Im a huge fan of the series and love the books. The first 2 movies were very well done and 3 was a flop. The 4th movie was making a comeback and 5 was really good…6 was disappointing. What was with Harry at that cafe in the beginning? What about the Dursleys? Everything was poorly done. The half blood prince's book had a small role and was referred to little. Can someone tell me why the Bureau was burnt down halfway through the movie, that was the most stupid thing in the movie. What happened to the dramatic finish? Alan Rickman as Snape is probably the best actor/role in the series but come on Alan, show a little emotion when you kill one of the biggest characters in the series. Nice little reception they had there at the end for Dumbledore also…oh wait, there wasnt one! The movie was like a middle schoolers topic essay, the introduction formed so the body isnt too much work and the conclusion lacks depth and backbone.
Wow I agree with many of you. lol. The F'd up a perfect opportunity to translate this book faithfully. Gotta love hollywood. This puts a bad taste in my mouth for the inevitable 7th film…
100% agree with you. It was an awful movie and a huge disappointment. Makes me love the books more so that's something. :D
I am a huge fan of the series, as well as the movies… and although I loved the movie, it is by far the worst in the series. They strayed to far from the book, didn't explain certain things that needed to be explained, and rushed through the ending.
The fight scenes should have been longer and more elaborate, including the last scene. Let's just be serious here… they short changed Dumbledore! (Not to mention the theater I was at had the film burn up right before the most crucial time! I had to go back tonight to take in the full movie!) Dumbledore's big finish should have been much more elaborate, the death eaters were suppose to completely invade Hogwarts, and Harry was suppose to be frozen under his invisibility cloak. How about going into a little more detail or research into the Half Blood Prince too?? It is after all in the title… Also I did not like that they did not have his funeral and Fawkes was instead flying around at the end… Again… a book thing…
I did really enjoy the awkward teenage love fest going on, and my favorite part of the movie was seeing Harry after he took the luck potion…
Again good movie, but I would have been happier if they split it in two and covered more.
Melissa I absolutely agree with you!!! It's great to know I share the same disappointment in the film. And you took the words right out of my mouth when you mentioned dumbledore's ending… what a shame. I felt the film wasn't very clear about Harry and Ginny's relationship. Many of my favorite moments in the book were left out. Sometimes I wish Hollywood would stop being so Hollywood and start interpreting books onto the big screen as it was written. This in my opinion is the best in the Harry Potter series and I really wouldn't mind if the film was 3 hours to add in more key plots in the book.
Anyway, it feels good to share my rant with another who appreciates the book more than the movie.
This was probably the best book in the Harry Potter series.
But the movie destroyed that for me. Seriously what happened to bill, flor, dobby, kreature. They didn’t mention nymphadora or the aurors at the school. They made a slight showing of the enchantments around hogwarts. The dursleys ( which in my oppinionis the funniest part of the books) are not even mention. The pensive is used twice in it. The comedy in the movie is way over played and they don’t show harry’s popularity as ‘the chosen one’ except for the love potion which they rush through like every thing else in the movie. The say nothing about the new minister instead they burn down the bureau. Harry and ginny’s relationship is almost non-existent. Quidditch is in the movie twice. They never show harry getting detention and looking at his dad’s and sirius’ deeds when they were in school. Dumbledore is not buried in the movie, they have the conversation in the astronomy tower no
Invisibility cloak.
This is only what i can think of on the spot. I think that they should re-do the movie and just stop playing this one. Two three hour movies would have been worth my time imstead of this wreck.
Tyler i totaly agree with you they left so much out. But you left out that it seemed like they were trying to make it more for children hence the pg rating when it should have been pg-13 at the very least
this movie by far the worst movie in the series… the most essential parts of the movies were all left out.. things were crunched together with no connections… love story was horrible… comedy was mediocre… ending was totally a failure…dramatic scenes were not that dramatic… overall i agree with the majority and say the movie was a big disappointment n that the director needs to go back n read the series…this movie is giving me second thought of how good the last 2 will be… if i end up going to the theatre to see the last 2 film it would be purely due to loyalty to the books…
I cant disagree more– I liked HBP. Though it was rushed I feel like they did what they could with what they had. Plus, it was really more of a transition or setup film for the final two– the ending really displayed that.
The actors were incredible. The sets were great. Loved it…. and yes, I have read all of the books.
I loved the beginning of the film, I loved how they captured Hermione's emotions for Ron, I thought the actress portraying Lavender was incredible and the sets were spectacular too. A few things I was disappointed with, however;
-the lack of explanation of what the horcruxes may be. How the hell is Harry going to know what to look for.
-Harry being told to hide before Dumbledore's death. I'm sure the Harry in the books would not stay hidden if he knew there were Death Eaters in the castle and that Dumbledore was in danger.
-Ravenclaw's diadem was not spotted in the ROR, leaving a big loophole for the next film.
I hope the next 2 films will be as true to the books as they possibly can be. At least it will be split into two, so the plot should not be as rushed as it was in HBP
I loved the beginning of the film, I loved how they captured Hermione's emotions for Ron, I thought the actress portraying Lavender was incredible and the sets were spectacular too. A few things I was disappointed with, however