Saturday, July 25, 2009

Entertainment: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Movie Review



I seldom do this kind of stuff but I guess I'll try churning out what critic I have in me. After all, this has been the only movie I have seen so far these past few days.

The much talked about and big time hype-machine that is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have become such a huge hit. Has it never been? Well, at least, according to box-office tolls. But has it barely even scraped what magic the book has made?

It was disastrous but cute. Not the kind that belittles whatever sense the word "disaster" invokes but the most meaningful definition of what it transpires. It's not as if it was an epic fail since it had its good points that outweighs the bad but for those non-members of the built-in audience that the books have created, it was barely comprehensible. The scene switching was okay most of the time but it somehow got out of place at certain points that my brother kept on asking "unsa to kya?" (What just happened?). Not that I'm trying to stress the movie's bad point by the reactions of an eight year-old but isn't that the point of the whole movie? To make people fully understand how the story unravels and what it's all about in spite of the audience's age and understanding?

Anyway, one thing I was really cool about was how the special effects were made. It didn't come across as "cartoony" and over the top like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Mind you, I would have no second thoughts in choosing it have I not been such an HP buff). Somehow, the dark setting that enveloped the movie was able to contribute to the believability of it all. But don't take my word for it though for I am less than erudite and am a delusional fool. Hehe.

Another stuff that I admired about the movie was the casualness of how it depicted the romances of the leads. It wasn't corny or overly melodramatic (ironic?) for instead, they made it normal and digestible. Though I've heard people animating the famous Greenwhich Pizza ad tagline, "Wow, ang Cheesy!" every now and then, but it was understandable.

Some stuff I found interesting:

1. Harry using Felix Felicis scene.
It was the best sequence the movie had.

2. Lavender Brown.
She was annoying and funny most of the time which could only mean that she did good.

3. Quidditch Match.
I never knew Quidditch was so kick-ass til this movie. It was like watching a real rugby match. Definitely, it was cool and exciting.

4. The Weasly's house on fire.
A foreshadowing that Bill and Fleur's wedding would be ditched for the next two movies?

5. Aragog.
He seemed smaller than when I last saw him on Chamber of Secrets.

6. The Deatheaters at Hogwarts.
A major factor of the letdown. I expected it to be jam-packed with action sequences but it turned out boring and rushed. Or was I thinking about Deathly Hallows at that time?

7. Harry got his nose broken.
I've been wanting to do that to Radcliffe for the longest time.

8. Hermione.
She showed some boobs! Well, was just a glimpse of a shallow cleavage but she sure is fine.

9. Draco.
He did much better than Radcliffe.

10. Ginny.
Do girls tie untangled shoelaces of boys they like? Anyway, she was pretty as well but Hermione's better.

11. Dumbledore's death.
The book did better. But I guess it would be too much to have since it's just about someone who's dead plus the amount of screen time it would get. I must agree, too much.

Overall, the movie was the best so far out there that the franchise was able to get. It was indeed dark, intense, hilarious and mysterious. Sometimes, too mysterious at times that some people gave up on it before they could fully understand it. Lest it was just me, prolly it was forgivable.

I'd still give it 4 out of 5.





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