All of my friend’s and family know what a huge fan I am of the Harry Potter books and movies, and so, for the first time, I will review one of the movies for those who might be curious as to what I thought of the latest installment of the books in movie from-Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. So here it goes…
If you are a fan of the Harry Potter books you are going to hate the 6th installment of the movies. If you love the movie versions, then you are going to love this latest of the series.
As a fan of both the books and the movies, I find myself decidedly torn as to just how good HBP in movie form is. To no surprise the director's and producer's of the movie series were forced to stray even farther from the book with HBP the movie. As a result, those who know the book well may be shocked as to how far from the book the movie strays. The main difference this time, however, is that the producer's and director made no attempt to hide the fact that they were going to have to stray from the book in telling this installment of the Harry Potter saga. From the opening scene the movie differs from the book, and throughout it's 2:30 (2:45 with previews) the movie has a choppy feel to it relative to it's book counterpart that another 10 minutes worth of film would have helped with greatly.
Fans of only the movies will love this one-if they can follow it and don't get lost. As a movie, HBP is one of the best so far, but it has a fundamental flaw: the director and producer's took a lot of creative lease with HBP. It was obvious from the opening scene that they were left without the choice but stray nearly 100% away from the book format. Further, for those who have read the books, you get the feeling that the director and producer's assumed that those who read the books wouldn't mind how far they were forced to stray while putting up the movie portrayal of HBP. As a result, fans who have only seen the movies may find themselves having a hard time keeping up with HBP and following the plot and fans of the books might get frustrated by all the differences between the book and movie. For example, there never is an explanation given for the time that Harry and Dumbledore spend together; and the relationships and humor that develop throughout the movie are jumbled together in ways that may leave viewer's who haven't read the book yet wondering exactly what is supposed to be going on and the ending feels 'sudden'-as if it was without a plan. However, it is very interesting how the makers choose to move HBP along, and fans of the books and movies (even the more critical of us like myself) will enjoy watching how they changed this one to fit the big screen, but given it's already 2 and half hour length, it's my opinion that they would have been better served adding another 10 minutes to properly explain the plot of HBP which is likely to elude many fans who have never read the books.
Did I still enjoy it? Yes. Was it worth my time? Yes. Was it worth the money I paid? Yes, but only because I went to the discounted matinee showing. If I had to pay the normal $8-10 for a movie, as a fan of the series, I would have been disappointed.
Perhaps I am being too critical of the movie makers, but I expected more out of the movie's as the series progressed through them. The Order of the
1 comment:
pretty much agree point for point with you man, the scene changes were rather sloppy and choppy as it related to the flow that we became accustomed to in the book. hopefully the deathly hallows concludes the series the way it deserves to...accurate and true to the vision of the series creator.
snotzzz
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