Post by Laurasia on Jul 17, 2009 12:13:09 GMT -5
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
Amanda & I did the line-waiting on opening day of the Half-Blood Prince & just barely got in before the show sold out. I do regrettably have to admit however that this film was a prime example of why I prefer to see the movie before I read the book in most cases. And I really hate saying that about one of the Harry Potter films.
There was too much emphasis on what should have been background themes, little character develop on two of the main characters - which should have occured in this film, an extremely simple action omitted from the scenes climax that completely took Harry out of character while taking the heart out of the ending, & an added scene put into the movie at the expensive of scenes that never should have been cut.
Now I will admit that I tend to get irritated when people see a movie based on one of their favorite books & tear it apart for minor differences, obviously a book is going to contain much more filler than a two-and-a-half-hour movie. However, The Half-Blood Prince had some serious discrepancies in my eyes. he** what should have been the main plot point of the film, who is the Half-Blood Prince, was barely touched upon! I mean the movie is only named The Half-Blood Prince!
Anyway, on to my specific gripes.....
Yes I heard all of the groaning about the students raging hormones when the book came out, yes there was quite a bit of it in the books., but it did it really have to dominate the entire film?!!!!!! I understand that it had to be in there to get the characters future romantic relationships established, but it shouldn't have overrode the what was supposed to be the main plot of the film....."who is the Half-Blood Prince & what is he the prince of"? I mean the extent of the trios research into the entire Half-Blood Prince question was Hermione trying to find the name Prince & coming up empty-handed...Ron & Harry didn't even attempt to figure any of it out! Throughout the movie they show the book less often than they showed Tom Riddles' diary in The Chamber of Secrets! Then, (& bare in fact that this one-liner occures after the rest of the movie was focused on things that it shouldn't have been) at the end, Snape simply tells Harry "I am the Half-Blood Prince"! That's it! That's the amount of mysterious attention that is given to the TOPIC THAT THE MOVIE IS NAMED AFTER! I won't even start on the time wasted during the Aragog funeral that would have been much better spent on things that should have been addressed in this film.
That gripe directly leads into my next gripe. Too little character depth regarding Voldemort & Snape. We are supposed to be getting much more into these two mens' backgrounds before moving into the next film. In regards to Voldemort they simply show that he was very naturally magically-inclined as a child & a thief. Pretty much nothing about the fact that he was also already ruthless & hurting others. Just him mentioning that "I can make people hurt if I want to." No scene of him with the other children in the cave, nothing. And in regards to Snape....They don't discuss ANY of his past! THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE POINT OF THIS FILM! TO GET MORE INTO WHAT MAKES SNAPE SNAPE! No mention of his childhood AT ALL. Pathetic.
Now to the very simple action, which would have taken a split second, that NEVER should have been removed from the main scene.....When Dumbledore is killed Harry is not immobilized or silenced! He just stands there even after Dumbledore is killed! That is so out of character for Harry! Look how he went after Bellatrix so rashly after she killed Sirius...he would not have just stood there silently when Dumbledore was killed unless he was bewitched (which is why Dumbledore bewitched him in the book!). Leaving that simple action out (which could have been as simple as having Dumbledore wave his hand at Harry & uttering the incantation if they were afraid that it would take up too much time) not only marred Harry's character, it completely took out the most heart-wrenching aspect of that entire scene....the realization that Dumbledore knew that he was going to be murdered & was willingly sacrificing himself to save the life of a student. There is none of that in the film! In the film is simply murdered & Harry stands there dumbfounded.
On top of leaving out all of the important things mentioned above they decided to add a scene in which Death Eaters attack & burn the Weasley's home! I assume this part was put in for dramatic effect & also as a way of properly showing off the character of Greyback. The problem...they don't even explain who or what he is. I fully expected that Greyback & Lupin were going to face-off or at least acknowledge each other, since they were both there. But no one even says his name in the entire film. I'm left wondering what was even the point of "introducing him" in this film if they weren't actually going to introduce the character. He just looks like a really hairy, mean Death Eater of no real importance in this film. Hello! He's the reason that Lupin is the way that he is. You would think that someone could have at least mentioned that fact at the end of the scene. The scene was obviously there for us to get a good look at Fenrir afterall.
The movie wasn't horrible...so long as you're not aware of what is going on. Like I said, I really wish that I would have waited to read the book this time. After the initial shock of all that is missing, or not emphasized enough, wears off it won't bother me so much. The effects were great & all, I'm just genuinely let down by the way that they decided to focus (or not) on the plot this time around.
Sincerely,
Laurasia
Amanda & I did the line-waiting on opening day of the Half-Blood Prince & just barely got in before the show sold out. I do regrettably have to admit however that this film was a prime example of why I prefer to see the movie before I read the book in most cases. And I really hate saying that about one of the Harry Potter films.
There was too much emphasis on what should have been background themes, little character develop on two of the main characters - which should have occured in this film, an extremely simple action omitted from the scenes climax that completely took Harry out of character while taking the heart out of the ending, & an added scene put into the movie at the expensive of scenes that never should have been cut.
Now I will admit that I tend to get irritated when people see a movie based on one of their favorite books & tear it apart for minor differences, obviously a book is going to contain much more filler than a two-and-a-half-hour movie. However, The Half-Blood Prince had some serious discrepancies in my eyes. he** what should have been the main plot point of the film, who is the Half-Blood Prince, was barely touched upon! I mean the movie is only named The Half-Blood Prince!
Anyway, on to my specific gripes.....
Yes I heard all of the groaning about the students raging hormones when the book came out, yes there was quite a bit of it in the books., but it did it really have to dominate the entire film?!!!!!! I understand that it had to be in there to get the characters future romantic relationships established, but it shouldn't have overrode the what was supposed to be the main plot of the film....."who is the Half-Blood Prince & what is he the prince of"? I mean the extent of the trios research into the entire Half-Blood Prince question was Hermione trying to find the name Prince & coming up empty-handed...Ron & Harry didn't even attempt to figure any of it out! Throughout the movie they show the book less often than they showed Tom Riddles' diary in The Chamber of Secrets! Then, (& bare in fact that this one-liner occures after the rest of the movie was focused on things that it shouldn't have been) at the end, Snape simply tells Harry "I am the Half-Blood Prince"! That's it! That's the amount of mysterious attention that is given to the TOPIC THAT THE MOVIE IS NAMED AFTER! I won't even start on the time wasted during the Aragog funeral that would have been much better spent on things that should have been addressed in this film.
That gripe directly leads into my next gripe. Too little character depth regarding Voldemort & Snape. We are supposed to be getting much more into these two mens' backgrounds before moving into the next film. In regards to Voldemort they simply show that he was very naturally magically-inclined as a child & a thief. Pretty much nothing about the fact that he was also already ruthless & hurting others. Just him mentioning that "I can make people hurt if I want to." No scene of him with the other children in the cave, nothing. And in regards to Snape....They don't discuss ANY of his past! THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE POINT OF THIS FILM! TO GET MORE INTO WHAT MAKES SNAPE SNAPE! No mention of his childhood AT ALL. Pathetic.
Now to the very simple action, which would have taken a split second, that NEVER should have been removed from the main scene.....When Dumbledore is killed Harry is not immobilized or silenced! He just stands there even after Dumbledore is killed! That is so out of character for Harry! Look how he went after Bellatrix so rashly after she killed Sirius...he would not have just stood there silently when Dumbledore was killed unless he was bewitched (which is why Dumbledore bewitched him in the book!). Leaving that simple action out (which could have been as simple as having Dumbledore wave his hand at Harry & uttering the incantation if they were afraid that it would take up too much time) not only marred Harry's character, it completely took out the most heart-wrenching aspect of that entire scene....the realization that Dumbledore knew that he was going to be murdered & was willingly sacrificing himself to save the life of a student. There is none of that in the film! In the film is simply murdered & Harry stands there dumbfounded.
On top of leaving out all of the important things mentioned above they decided to add a scene in which Death Eaters attack & burn the Weasley's home! I assume this part was put in for dramatic effect & also as a way of properly showing off the character of Greyback. The problem...they don't even explain who or what he is. I fully expected that Greyback & Lupin were going to face-off or at least acknowledge each other, since they were both there. But no one even says his name in the entire film. I'm left wondering what was even the point of "introducing him" in this film if they weren't actually going to introduce the character. He just looks like a really hairy, mean Death Eater of no real importance in this film. Hello! He's the reason that Lupin is the way that he is. You would think that someone could have at least mentioned that fact at the end of the scene. The scene was obviously there for us to get a good look at Fenrir afterall.
The movie wasn't horrible...so long as you're not aware of what is going on. Like I said, I really wish that I would have waited to read the book this time. After the initial shock of all that is missing, or not emphasized enough, wears off it won't bother me so much. The effects were great & all, I'm just genuinely let down by the way that they decided to focus (or not) on the plot this time around.
Sincerely,
Laurasia