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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

HALF-BLOOD PRINCE MOVIE!

I'm sitting here, bedraggled and tired, staring at an empty screen. Typing with my right hand as I gesticulate wildly with my left, searching for words to describe the jumping bean thoughts bouncing in every direction of my brain. The Half-Blood Prince movie. I... I can't write paragraphs about this. A sporadic list, for now:

--I'm disappointed that the other five movies were made, when all along they had the potential to be like this one. Sure, it's far from perfect, but the characters were themselves for once. Bonnie Wright looked a little bit awkward trying to be the confident, flirty minx that is Ginny, but hell, at least she had lines this time. Rupert Grint has never been more Ron. Emma Watson's hair was wonderful, and her eyebrows weren't crazyexpressiveallovertheplace. I am finally attracted to Dan Radcliffe, and I think that's because he finally resembled Harry! Blaise Zabini, Cormac McClaggen, and Pansy Parkison were glorious cast additions.

--I love that it doesn't apologize for the other movies. It's a film adaptation of HBP; not an extension on Warner Brothers' previous mistakes. Tonks and Lupin are there, but no one reminds us who they are. Because we should know already. No one says Narcissa Malfoy's name, or introduces Katie Bell, or says, "Go away, Wormtail-- Peter Pettigrew, the Neville-foil who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort!" There's very little cheesy appositive backstory. Kathleen and I did crack up uncontrollably, though, when Dumbledore said, "Voldemort, or, as he was known then, Tom Riddle...."

--I wish they'd have made the Gaunt family scene, as it's my favorite in the series, but I totally understand why it was left out. I knew they'd do Harry and Ginny's first kiss differently, and I was... okay with it. I spent the whole time mourning the real scene in my head, so I'll have to wait and see it again before I form a full opinion. It's sad that they eliminated the Ministry plotline altogether, and that we never saw Percy, but you've really got to choose your battles. We don't get "Dumbledore's man, through and through," but it's not like anyone's casually walking into the Department of Mysteries this time. 

--Omg Luna's lion headdress. Omg Hermione's canaries. Omg bezoars. I'm so, so happy with the details. They didn't get into Fenrir Greyback (which suuuuucks!) but he was present, at least. I wish Moaning Myrtle would've had a cameo, but that would have made the Sectumsempra scene difficult, and it was PERFECT.

--The Burrow fire? Wtf?! Kathleen rubbed my arm tenderly at this point, because I almost got out of my seat and ran to have a word with David Yates.

--Do you really think there's any chance in hell Harry would stand there with his wand out and watch Dumbledore die if he had the ability to move? That was just stupid. It makes Harry look pathetic instead of desperate and vulnerable. It seems to me like you can't change that bit without messing with characterization. Harry's fatal flaw is his arrogance and willingness to step up and fight, whether he knows what he's doing or not. Movie Harry just looked dumbstruck and incapable.

--So much of the dialogue was word-for-word! Much of the scene at the twins' shop, for example, and the memory of young Tom Riddle. I was on the edge of my seat at the ending, praying they'd say "With you, whatever happens," but I couldn't really be disappointed when they didn't, because the shot of the phoenix was too perfect. Part of me is glad that scene didn't happen by the lake, too, because that scenery is so intricate in my mind, and it would have been upsetting for such an intimate thing to be put on screen. The lake is one place that's still exclusively for us, and not the moviegoers.

--Romilda Vane! I thought for sure she'd be left out, but I'm glad she wasn't. I don't know how I feel about Lavender. She was very funny and her clothes/accessories were absolutely wonderful, but I thought she was too crazy and not ditzy enough. Yes, Lavender is frightening, but she should be more of an obnoxious bimbo than a dreamy-eyed pop princess Luna. I wish Parvati would have been there with her. It's a weird thing to say, but they're two of my favorite characters. Next time you reread the series, pay particular attention to Parvati. She's like a hidden gift from Jo.

--I LOVE THE NEW TRAIN. That's exactly what the Hogwarts Express is to me. I was shaking in my seat the second it became apparent that they were going to do the whole Malfoy-steps-on-yer-face bit. One of my favorite scenes in the series, and it was executed very well. I can still feel it-- suddenly Malfoy's a scary, adult threat, and not just a pest. He may legitimately have the upper hand. There's a good chance nobody will find you down here, and you're bleeding out your nose like a bitch. Ugggh. I love it.

--Helena Bonham Carter is a fantastic actress, and I was impressed with her after Order of the Phoenix, but... come on. Bellatrix should be weirdly over-sexualized with, like, Voldemort, but not with her nephew. I liked what she was doing, but I'd have toned it down a few notches. I understand that Bellatrix is far from a SUBTLE character, but Helena's portrayal was almost like a Halloween costume mockery this time.

--Narcissa's hair was stupid. It wasn't bad or anything, but she's supposed to be blonde. Her shoes, however, were AMAZING. Pay attention in the bit proceeding her scene: she's wearing classy black heels that scream Mrs. Malfoy.

--The Slug Club was awesome. Cormac was ridiculously sexy, which sort of sucks. It's easier in the book to will yourself to ignore him, because you're obviously never going to be able to like Ron's competition. But kudos to you, Freddie Stroma. You weren't barbaric or frightening, but you deserve some points for being hot.

Obviously, I'm going to have to see the film about seven more times, and I'm sure I'll be full of new insights with each viewing. All in all, though, I'm overcome with positive emotion. My expectations were as low as they could be, and I was pleasantly surprised. At times, it was like someone had extracted the world inside me and projected it in through my eyes. And while there are obvious mistakes and it's obviously not my book, the movie is, shockingly, good enough for me to smile about. A LOT.

Sexy: Freddie Stroma, who plays Cormac McClaggen. Dayum, gurrl. I was going to post a link to a photo, but you have to go google image search him immediately. *drool*
Unsexy: Zooming in on Dan Radcliffe's eyes... all the time... when they're blue.

Chipotle burritos this year: 23
S'mores this summer: 3
Subscribers: 18,152

Bye, guys! Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow. <3

76 comments:

Adam said...

i really appreciate that even though you loved it you can admit all those flaws that were there.
i liked it but it thought it was missing a lot. including the funeral scene. and many others.
so i didn't like it as much, but a lot of the little things you mentioned bothered me too, like not freezing harry.
it's not like freezing him would've been a difficult task in the film. it would've made sense and been easy to achieve. so i don't even understand why they make those little changes.

rAm said...

Good to know what not to expect. For fans is better to go in the right mindset.

And the Romilda Vane picture was one of the first images released a couple of months ago. Where have you been? :)

I can't wait to see it.

duckling97 said...

I definitely loved Aragog's burial scene. Like, the excitement you get from a theater full of people laughing at something ACTUALLY funny is unexplainable.
And is it just me, or does Hagrid look like, really different. I think it's his hair.
:]

Maya Gaster said...

uggghhh dan's eye color has always been a HUGE pet peeve of mine. and i mostly agree with you, except i was really really mad about ginny and harry's first kiss scene. i mean i understand why they changed it, but oh em gee i would've loved to see harry looking around the common room for ron and the eye contact, the "if you must" look......

allison said...

Whoo!
I agree; Cormac was WAYYY too sexy, so it made it harder to hate him.
I felt like this movie, though it differed from the book, it WORKED. Like, something just clicked and bingo! I don't think I can watch Goblet of Fire anymore... [now that I've seen how far they came.]

I wanted to hug and bitch-slap Draco at the same time.

duckling97- Hagrid did look diff this time.

Sooooooo worth going to a flute lesson on 5.5 hours of sleep! <3

Chelsea said...

I was sitting between two of my best friends during the movie, and I started holding their hands when Harry and Dumbledore got to the cave. I didn't let go until the credits came on. I cried like a tiny girl.

I definitely agree with pretty much everything you said, especially the part about Harry looking pathetic while he's just standing there watching everything happen above him. It was really out of character.

Beautiful movie.

Unknown said...

I completely agree with everything you said. Especially the part about how it is a film adaptation.

My experience of The Half-Blood Prince was amazing. Especially since I drove from the airport to the theater to see it. I had gotten off of an airplane from Chicago (where I saw Harry Potter: The Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry) at 11:10. Amazing time.

A.J. James said...

i have to wait until saturday to see this.,... killing me, but i love your description... you are the first to not point out the Doctor who joke, im curious how blunt it is.

Natalie said...

I AM SO EXCITED.
I'm seeing it with all my friends tomorrow, and we've been quoting the book all day. Mostly just outbreaks of Ron-style 'ROMILDA' but still!
We're all going dressed up as characters, and I'm Mad Eye. Can't get cooler than that :)

Leah said...

Honestly, my favorite part of the Ministry bit isn't "Dumbledore's man through and through" so much as Harry's "The Ministry wasn't so keen to be pals last year." But because DH is being split in two, I feel like they'll deal with that more when it comes time to distribute the will.

And Lavender irked the hell out of me. She's supposed to be a cleavage-y slutbomb, not a psycho spazzattack.

But the most important part really is that for the first time, the trio really felt like the trio. And not just in bits and pieces- consistently and cohesively. And that's what made the movie.

Also Michael Gambon didn't totally suck, which helped.

Johnny Rollerfeet said...

I have to lay any problems I have at Steve Kloves's feet. Anywhere he had to create 100% original material, to bridge the massive gaps that were cut from the book to make the move, it didn't feel right.

I had a textbook in school once that the school board decided needed revision. Since they couldn't afford new textbooks for the whole parish(county), they bought page-size stickers and simply stuck them over the pages that needed to be changed.

Those original scenes felt the same as reading the revised pages in the book.

Kirsty said...

I'm not really a fan of the HP films, but I am going to see it tomorrow, and the main (well, only) reason is for Freddie Stroma.
Ohmygod.

KaraDawlish said...

people laughed when he said "he killed my parents proffesor" or whatever he said too slughorn

You know what i just realised...? I did not even SEE rob knox. Did i miss him...? Slugclub was awesome, felix and live potuon were amazing! I thought the two attempted dumbledore murders on katie and ron were done WONDERFULLY. both quite intense. MG still makes me said though. Just dont like him... Never will. So it made me really sad that i WASN'T sad when D falls off the tower. MG is just that lame in my mind it killed it. I feel that if i didnt read the books i would have walked out of that theater one of THE MOST confused people ever. Lol not for the average movie goer anymore. Because like you said, they didnt feel the need to loudly reintroduce every charavter each time they entered a room this time around. Did hermione do that thing in this movie where she informs on random facts just to make it obvious to viewers? I cant remember. The only thing im truely upset about is the lack of the minister plot over all. They attempted to add the burrow to show the whole world is beung effected but THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. Harry was THERE lol it just showe them aiming for harry AGAIN. haha

I had an amazing midnight release experience though looking forward to seeing it again today

Rosianna said...

I loved this film, and I will go into detail about all that at some point soon, maybe in a video, but for now...

JEEZ LOUISE FREDDIE STROMA IS SO BLOODY ATTRACTIVE. I would HAPPILY tie his shoelaces for him and be on first name terms.

Lyndi said...

I completely agree with you on the whole Harry-standing-idly-by thing. It never would have happened, and it goes completely against his character. However, I think they refrained from freezing him in order to get some of Dan's emotion in. Panning back and forth between the Draco/Dumbledore exchange, and Harry just....there might not have come off well on screen and could have been a bit boring.

Bre Melvin said...

despite all the flaws i liked it too

but it wasn't harry potter, i'm still trying to figure out what it is exactly... probably the pacing

so glad that steve kloves came back and stuck to the dialogue for a change, and as you said i'm glad that they didn't have to reexplain everything for the non-bookers

Emily said...

Yeah...I agree with almost everything you said. :] My blog post on it looks somewhat similar, haha.

Unknown said...

I loved the film, thought it was great. One thing I didn't know how to feel about though was the fact that I knew the ending of the story. I knew how everything would eventually end up. Especially when it came to Snape, watching him felt different.

bassrocks9 said...

I tried really hard not to read this blog post. It's not that I did't read the book about 7 times, but I didn't want the movie spoiled for me. I wanted to see all its imperfections interspersed with the things it got right. I tried so hard, but one can only go so long without reading a hayleyghoover blog. :)

Unknown said...

Also Bre (89ravenclaw) I know what you mean, it went through things very quickly. But like you I enjoyed it.

And did anyone else notice how Aragog had shrunk so very much in this one. xD

Johnny Rollerfeet said...

unrelated sidenote: maybe you wished you lived in Austin right about now.

Allyson;; said...

harry potter is ADORABLE on liquid luck.
I can't get over the Ginny thing though, mostly because i'm a hopeless romantic that squees over the harry/ginny kiss in the book... and the lake scene.

oh well.

Mariafoo said...

I thought more readers of Harry Potter would be making complaints but surprise...they aren't.

The movie was okay.It seemed that it's romance was showcased almost as importantly as the task at hand which was to find out about Voldemort's past and reveal important clues as to how to defeat him.

The cave scene? No. Just,no.

When Dumbledore was killed?
Wtf,was that about?
Falling in slow motion and whatnot.

The tasks that Dumbledore had Harry do were done so quickly that it seemed like the makers of this movie really were just focusing on humor and love interests.

It was kind of dissappointing to see scenes like when Aragog died taken more as a joke. In the book it seemed a big deal but in the movie they made Hagrid look a bit silly while Harry was standing there looked high as a fucking kite.



There were so many more times when I just sat there looking at the screen thinking,"What the fuck happened to these movies?"

The other movies (beside Order of the Phoenix) were better than this,in my opinion. They had more of a simplicity that depicted the story better then the mess of last night's midnight showing.

Anyway,good blog it's just...when comparing book to film...how is this movie excellent?

P.S.
Not saying this movie was horrible just a dissappointment to the books.

But if the books aren't kept in mind,it was "good"?

I dunno.

Bye,
Maria.

Callidora said...

This is the first movie since the third that I have actually enjoyed. I did have a couple problems with it: Lavender, Michael Gambon still not wearing his spectacles, Dan not wearing green contacts again, Narcissa's hair, the fact that Bellatrix acts like she's thirteen, but overall it was pretty good and I can't wait to see it again.

Sara said...

thank you!! I felt like my friend and I were the only people in the theatre freaking out during the house fire being like WTF!!!!! Also, I liked the coloring when they had Luna walking down the train hallway before finding Harry. I missed the Bill/ Fleur plotline, but liked the bit they added at the beginning with Harry and that girl. The drug references were very funny, especially Harry on Felix Felicis and semi-drunk Hermione before the Katie Bell necklace incident. I also enjoyed the humor, when Cormac is licking his finger during desert... HOT and hilarious.

Anonymous said...

I'm not seeing it till tomorrow (*sob* - my mom's birthday party is today and....) but I'm so relieved that you liked it for the most part. The sixth book has always been one that I just love.

But Harry's blue eyes...GROWL. Maybe they didn't want to give an 11-year-old color contacts, but...I once saw a poster where they'd photoshopped them green and I was like "OH MY GOD! WHY NOT IN THE MOVIE?"

Alas, I guess it's not to be.

I'll try not to expect too much.

seurat2 said...

Great job Hayley, I knew you'd give a good honest appraisal. I'll be seeing it on the weekend. Did you dress up at all?

Catherine said...

Hayley,
I've been reading your blog since BEDA but this is my first time commenting. I completely agree with your review of HBP. And whilst I don't mind some of the changes the film had, were you not also left wondering how the diadem will be found in the 7th film since Harry didn't come across it in the Room of Requirement? Also, the lack of a fight in the closing scenes made my pre-prepared adrenaline rush fizzle into nothingness. Apart from that I was smiling too. I loved love-potioned Ron and Luna was a joy.

Keep up the good work on YT and here. I love following. :)

Margaret said...

I can't believe you didn't mention Dumbledore! OH, MY GOD, THEY GOT HIM RIGHT. Well, sort of. I mean, for me, Dumbledore can never be recreated and his only pure form will be Jo's, but Michael Gambon was SO CLOSE THIS TIME! I went in thinking to myself, "Well, at least he dies in this one," but GOD. I was crying pretty much nonstop for the last half hour of that film, starting when he starting drinking the potion to get the Horcrux. Took you six movies, WB, but you finally understand Dumbledore.

I thought the same thing when I realized that Harry wasn't going to be Petrificus-Totalis-ized when Snape kills Dumbledore, but I actually thought it was sort of a really interesting choice on the part of David Yates. When Snape comes in and sees Harry, it was like Harry had a moment where he thought, "Okay, I just shared this intense and life-changing experience with Dumbledore. I trust him. He trusts Snape. I guess I do too." So he lets himself believe that Snape is going to help. And then Snape up and AK's him, which makes you hate Snape even more! Objective achieved! He made us trust Snape and then Snape betrayed our trust. I thought it was really interesting...

What I loved about it was all the nods to the books. They put in things that probably didn't enhance the actual film at all, but they made me so incredibly happy. Hermione's canaries and hair, Romilda, the word-for-word dialogue. I mean, it's like they finally understand their audience. We've been asking for these things forEVER and they finally delivered. Oh, my God. Made me SO happy!

And, yeah. The Burrow fire was a total miss for me too.

Samantha said...

I'm thinking that draco was really hot in this one. And I'm not sure if he wasn't in the last one or if I was ignoring him. Hmmm. All and all, it was amazing.

Zombie said...

I was thrilled with Tom Felton's preformance. I think he did a wonderful job. One of my favorite little scenes they did in the movie was when they were zooming outside of the castle but you could see Lavender and Ron snogging in the windows and then Draco looking pained while observing the grounds. *dies a fangirl death* I was a bit disappointed about the astronomy tower bit. Not to sound vicious but I was really looking forward to seeing Bill ripped apart by Greyback.

Naomi said...

Hey! I just got back from seeing it(Literally like ten minutes ago). I loved it. I'm not a Harry Potter fan so I can't pick out the bits that were similar to the book, and the flaws. But I still thought it was great, especially the parts with Draco.

Freya said...

I loved the film because I was aware of alot of the changes. I think sometimes it doesnt hurt to be informed before seeing the film. I knew it wouldnt be exactly like the book, but it was still really close. And the changes made were done so well that I didnt really care. I do agree about Harry not doing anything up on the tower, and I really really miss The origonal Harry/Ginny Kiss. I think Bonnie was actually pretty good and now im kinda upset she'll barely be in DH. Just like I was after book six. Felton was freaking fantastic and Emma has gotten even better as well as Dan and Rupert. I loved 'High' Harry.

My Film experience was epic though. My friend and I were the ONLY people in the entire theatre to dress up (Us Irish are too self Consious) so because I was the first they saw and I was dressed as a Gryffindor I got a Free Gryffindor hoodie. And as far as I can tell its limited edition because I cant find it for sale anywhere. Then after I immensly enjoyed the film I visited the local Radio station that I cant get enough of next door, and I was mentioned live on air because one of the hosts was jealous of my hoodie. Then I met my Radio hero Mary McGill who is Hillarious and intelligent. It was an Epic, EPIC day.

Katie said...

i am SO excited for the movie now<3

so, in the movie, was cormac's hair buzzed off like in most of the pictures on google, or is there a little somethin'-somethin' to grab on to? if it's buzzed, -10 points to hotness.

goldensnitch said...

You actually put my thoughts on the movie in a blog. I love how you got every thought I had while watching the movie, especially Narcissa's hair and Dumbledore's death scene.
I wish I knew you so I could watch the movie with you ha ha.

Sasha said...

The movie feels like one big blur now.. so I have to see it again.
I wish they would have included just a tiny bit more on the Half Blood Prince.. because that's what it's called. I didn't like how Snape just said, "I am the Half Blood Prince" or something like that.

And now I am wondering what they will do in the 7th movies for the Burrow..

comelygrace said...

Funniest part for me was when Harry made the pincers comment and motion with his hands in reference to why people don't like spiders!

Elizabeth... said...

His bloody blue eyes. ARGH! That is possible one of the silliest decisions WB ever made, to not give him contacts.
I like your addition to the many reviews I'm allowing myself to read after actually seeing the film a few hours ago and I pretty much agree with you.
My favourite thing entirely, as you pointed out, was the avoidance of excessive backstory. The worst being mobile Harry at the end. I don't understand why the whole battle was cut, it made it much less serious and he needed to be unable to help not just unwilling because Harry is supposed to be going crazy trying to do wandless magic to help.

*sigh* I'm getting worked up again, I should sleep and stop this comment now.

SarahKeeler said...

So, I was going to write a blog post with my thoughts about HBP, but you've saved me the trouble. I completely agree with everything you wrote. The overall tone of the movie was just RIGHT. Sure, there are things done differently and bits left out, but on screen everything worked. Emma Watson finally didn't piss me off as Hermione and Warner Bros. stopped trying to make the movies kiddish and cheesy. Michael Gambon didn't even suck too bad.

I heard the last two paragraphs from the book in my head during the last scene. Beautiful.

The Pearl said...

I loved it! Yes, it was flawed, but for what it was it was amazing. Definitely the vest of the six. Very good points you made. I actually liked Lavender, though.

I don't see why they couldn't have just given Dan some green contacts for the frikkin' role.

I thought it was a really beautiful movie. I can't wait to go see it 50 more times.

The Pearl said...

Oh, my biggest complaints of the film:

1. No funeral for Dumbledore.
2. Too much romantic focus, not enough plot focus. They didn't create enough suspense about the Half-Blood Prince.


I actually also really enjoyed Michael Gambon this time around. And I adore Rupert Grint. Gah.

Anonymous said...

I'm fairly certain I agree with you at least 90% about this film. I really hated that Harry just stood there and let all that happen, but I enjoyed Snape shushing Harry. My favorite parts were when Katie got cursed, Ron got poisoned, when Harry takes the Felix Felicis until they go to Hagrid's... that is, and the cave scene. It wasn't like the book, but if it was it wouldn't be original. I think comparing these movies to their respective books is like comparing Harry Potter to Twilight. I'm not saying that the Harry Potter movies are as bad as the Twilight books because they aren't, but it's just a stupid thing to compare in my opinion. Really long comment, I know...

Michael said...

Just thought I'd point out the irony of the word subtle being in all caps. ;)

Indigo said...

I have to disagree with you about Helena Bonham Carter. I thought she was perfect in this film, more so than the last one. She knew exactly how to bring out the character, especially in the Burrow scene, when she's yelling "I KILLED SIRIUS BLACK!", I thought that was brilliant.

Other than that I agree with you on everything. Luna's lion mask is <3.

lindsey said...

I lady-jizzed during the cave scene. Alas, I did not like the way they portrayed the Ron/Hermione thing. I felt like it came on way too strong. Jo has subtlty when defining their relationship, and when I saw Hermione at Ron's bed holding his hand with her googly eyes, I was grinding my teeth into nubs.
OH, and when Dumbledore died? The theatre was SO quiet... it was weird. It felt really intimate and kind of awkward. And to experience that in a theatre is a pretty odd thing. Kudos to Yates, though.

Courtney said...

Harry's eyes bother me so much. I know it's because Dan Radcliffe is a wuss (aka they "hurt his eyes too much") but still. Couldn't something have been done about it?

Cil Bear said...

Right on. I completely agree with every point you make here. And how stupid was it that they left out the battle at the Astronomy Tower between the Death Eaters and the DA/Order? In my opinion, that is one of the best combat scenes in the series, and I was highly disappointed that it was left out.

And are the movies going to forego the whole Bill/Fleur subplot? I mean, I guess it could be left out, but I really wanted to see the movie adaptation of the wedding and Kingsley's Patronus saying "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead." Oh well. I suppose you can't win them all!

I'm Cecilia by the way. I live in DC and I'm about to go to Japan for a year...always been a fan of your vlog! Keep it up Hayley!

Anonymous said...

Omg, I'm totally like you right now, wondering what on Earth to write about the movie. I will say that I agree with all of your points. Here my random review thing: I didn't like the H/G moments in the movie at all, but that's probably because I don't like Bonnie Wright. I mean you're right, she was more Ginny-ish than she ever will be in the movies, but I still didn't like them. They were so awkward, but I LOVED the R/Hr moments. They were like perfect. I did not like the ending of the movie. At all. I felt as as though the trailer let on more than there actually was, which they always do, but I thought the whole Death Eaters breaking into Hogwarts was REALLY lame. All they did was break dining utensils which can obviously be repaired with the Reparo spell. I guess they're saving it for the the next movie which better be BADASS. I also didn't like the confrontation with Snape and Harry. It needed more anger. And Snape revealing himself as the Half-Blood Prince was so subtle. OMG! Tom Felton is a badass! Hot damn he was really good. It's sad that we'll probably never see him display his acting skills again though. And O.M.G. Cormac McLaggen *sighs. He's soooooo hot, as well as Blaise. Gambon sorta kinda redeemed himself from the catastrophe that is "DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE?!" *shivers* Oh how I hate that scene. Harry on FELIX was HILARIOUS! It was comedy gold "... and the pincers" LOL! The cave was just how i pictured it, so that was perfect. Although I did think that we went back to 2003 and were watching LOTR because of the Gollums, but whatever. I think it's my favorite of all the films, which is amazing because like you, it's my favorite of the series and I didn't think they would justice, but they did. Or maybe it's just me finally accepting that the movies will never, ever do the books justice. It was better than OotP which was just... newspapers and flashbacks. Okay, I could go on forever but I think exceeded your comment limit or something. All in all, great movie and great review. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said, just like I always do. You have an amazing way with words Hayley. Incredible. There are some things that I think people can never put into words, but you surprise by showing me that you can. That's why I come come back every day =)

Scott said...

Amen sister. AMEN.

Kristin said...

I have to say, I was honestly waiting to hear your (and others) portrayal of the movie before I was willing to be excited to see it.. Because, when it comes down to it, if it's good enough for real Harry Potter fans to smile about, then it's actually GOOD. :) Thanks!

Olivia said...

I agree with almost every thing you said.

Especially about Harry just STANDING THERE while Dumbledore is killed. I found out about that little plot change from reviews of the early screenings in Chicago last October and have been outraged ever since. Honestly, Harry's inability to sit by and watch anything is the basis for his entire character. Whatever.

I also didn't like the strange Hermione/Harry conversation, while Ron sits silently far behind them at the end. People who work on the movies ship Harmonie so hard.
And how, exactly, based on the information given, is Harry going to find the horcruxes?

I think this is the best of the movies so far. There were moments that bothered me, but overall I loved it.

VicMorrowsGhost said...

The shot in Dumbledore's office when Mcgonagall tells Harry he was important to Dumbledore, film Harry seriously looks like book cover Harry.

Chloe said...

I totally agree with everything you have said except for the fact that I was slightly disappointed. As a super I-read-all-the-books-around-a-hundred-times Harry Potter fan I think I was still expecting the film to be the same as the book.
I thought the thing with the train when the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder was used and you could se, from the outside, all the lights on the train going out, was amazing. It lead up to the scene with Draco and the stomping on the nose part but I was totally expecting "Wotcher, Harry" and instead there was Luna and I couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed. Not that Luna wrecked it 'cos I think she's great but still....
I also agree about wanting the Gaunt family scene and expanding just a bit more on the meetings with Dumbledore and the watching of the memories because I feel that they dealt with it just a bit too lightly like it was nothing too important. The same again with the memory from Slughorn, it wasn't really stressed how important it was for Harry to retrieve the real memory instead of the tampered one.
Once again, I am in agreement with the Sectumsempra scene, it was briliant, not to mention Tom Felton's HOTNESS but I missed Myrtle a lot.
TH BURROW FIRE! what the loopy loo was that all about!? I was itching to scream AGUAMENTI but I obviously couldn't without getting some odd looks. I still don't get why they didn't use it (caused by dark magic maybe?).
I also loved the way that much of the dialogue was, as you said, word for word and I loved the fact that I knew what was being said. I loved the fact that the
characters were very much themselves. I loved the fact that I knew Slughorn was going to say "Harry m'boy!" when he appeared for potions class. It finally felt like a HP film at last!
I totally agree about Narcissa's hair. I was like OMG It's meant to be all blonde! And the Unbreakable Vow was a bit of an anticlimax. It was all, "go on make the vow, he'll never do it." then he agreed and it was just "Oh, 'kay then." It sorta bugged me a bit but, it's not gonna be perfect.
CORMAC WAS HOT. 'Nough said.

I realise this comment is stupidly long and is turning more into a blog on its own. Sorry :)

Chloe said...

Oh yeah..... ><
I think the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes store was dealt with BRILLIANTLY.
"But I'm your brother!"
"Ten Galleons!"
It was brilliant.
I also agree with some other commenters about Lavender. She was all wrong. Likewise the Ginny/Harry scene in the Room of Requirement.. NO, NO, NO!

But still... I babble too much :)

Cindy Yin said...

Reading your post almost made me like the movie.

:D

Unknown said...

I agree with everything you said.
My favorite part was probably at the beginning when harry arrives and molly peaks down from the staircase, then Ron, and then Hermione, i thought that was SO Weasley. I hate the burrow fire. Extremely UNNECESSARY. gtrnhgurbvjf. Cormac was brilliant. And Harry while in the effects of Felix was just unbelievably hilarious. *pincers*.
It was so worth the wait, despite its flaws.

Kiera Jo said...

Ah. Great review, Hayley. It just makes me want to go back and see it again. I must do that soon.

I also thought Narcissa's hair was silly and Bellatrix was bordering on incest with Draco. I also wish she didn't act quite so giggly--Bellatrix is supposed to be terrifying, insane, and disturbing, not ridiculous. Also, Lavender was just not what I pictured AT ALL. She's supposed to be a conniving (albeit ditzy)popular girl; movie Lavender was more like a daydreaming, socially awkward silly pants.

Anyways, I guess that's all...if I go on I will NEVER stop.

~Kiera

Tenley Nadine said...

I basically had the same reaction to the "Burrow being set on fire" scene.
I also disliked the scene at the begining with the waitress. I watched it going, "WTF" the whole time.

Emily said...

I love your thoughts on the movie, they are intelligent and well thought-out. Especially the part about Harry not being stunned when Dumbledore dies. That is a huge flaw in the movie that I never really thought about.

But I totally agree with you, I loooved the movie! They changed some stuff and left some stuff out, but that's to be expected, and they didn't make any major mistakes.

Miranda said...

What I hated:

1) How incredibly, painfully cheesy and obvious it was that Hermione and Ron liked each other. Yes, we know they do. You don't need to remind us every .9 seconds.

2) THE BURROW FIRE ?! W.T.F!

3) Why the hell wasn't Harry petrified/stunned/whatever? Like you said, it just made him look stupid.

4) They didn't make Luna's lion roar :(

5) Didn't entirely explain the whole Half-Blood Prince thing.. which is a tad ironic.

6) Narcissa's hair? I'm sorry, but what ?

7) Plenty of other things, but I'm getting too angry so it's time to be happy!

Things I loved:

1) Draco. Enough said.

2) Fred and George - more plz?

3) Ron was so very Ron-esque ("and take Weasley with you, he looks far too happy!").

4) Hands down my FAVOURITE part of the entire movie was when Harry drank the Felix Felicis. Honestly, I could not get enough of that scene and it is the reason I will watch this movie a million more times in the theatre.

5) Slughorn wasn't how I pictured him, but his part was played out really well.

6) The scene with Katie Bell - it genuinely scared me.

7) SO MANY OTHER THINGS! Rahhh, I love HP! <3

Kaitlyn w/ a K said...

Parvati has always been one of my favorites too, and I really can't even explain it. I've always been fascinated with her. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Menagerie of Never-Ever said...

it has always annoyed me that they leave daniel radcliff's eyes blue, i think the green makes harry much more unique.

Narcissa looked like Cruella De Vil with her hair, i was laughing every time i saw her.

Aleesun said...

You are a brave girl. Whenever I mention to someone that I rather like Lavender and Parvati, I am attacked with the stink eye.
I really loved the sixth film. It was the first one that left me wanting to watch it over and over again. All of the main bits that I wanted were included. I would have liked to see Harry's friends fighting Death Eaters at the end and hear Gambledore say the "I'm not worried..." line. But really, I was so satisfied.
Thanks for the review

Odi said...

Ever since the first Dumbledore died, I never thought he was played right. Just throwin' that out there.

megan-la said...

I saw it again last night and my friend called Narcissa's hair to my attention. I probably saw a picture a while ago and got annoyed, but for some reason when I saw it in the movie the first time I just thought it was a weird beret or something...

Unknown said...

I usually read the comments that have come before so i don't end up sounding like a broken record for you... but I honestly don't have the time for 64 comments, most of which I'm sure are "how could you like it *upset fan mumblings* etc".

So I have to say i agree with you that this was my fave movie so far... while I like, any book fan will always have problems with the movies, and I cring every time they do something that makes their next movie foray even harder, or cut something that makes the beautiful characterization that JK loving crafted around her characters pour slowly down the toilet, I understand the difficulty in medium difference and stuff, and this one did really well.

I agree with you on all points, but I also think a few more things should be mentioned.

Tom Felton needs the popcorn movie equivalent of an oscar for best actor, because he blew me away. not once in that film did i look at him and think Tom Felton, it was all Draco.

I have exhausted myself ranting at Steve Cloves, David Yates and Gambon for what they have done to Dumbledore and I feel i can move past this and just thank the stars that he has little actual screen time in book 7. Although I thought his delivery of the line about apparation was almost dumbledore, and I was highly impressed with his potion cave scene acting, although it wasn't as dramatic as I had imagined.

HOW IS HARRY GOING TO FIND THE HORCRUXES! All Dumbledore said to him about them was 'they could be anything" They're going to need all almost 3 hours of the next two movies to have HRH checking every item voldie ever came in contact with for signs of horcruxe-yness... why didn't they just put in a 2 min explaination scene, make it easier for themselves.

And by that token, I was disappointed they kept in the fake locket plotline. I think the next two films have enough happening within them without having to force in a plot line about a houseelf and a guy who has been mentioned twice in these films, it won't have anything like the emotional impact it had in the book on screen, and they've just added so much more work for themselves.

Although I do kinda wanna see Umbitch get pwned, so I'm not that annoyed.

Sorry to rant, love the blog, keep writing :)

Unknown said...

I was looking forward to the Gaunt house scene every single time i read it in the book. I guess I'm glad in a way because, like you said about the lake, it's so intricate in my mind I'd probably be disappointed by it anyways. I have many of the same feeling about the film as you. Overall from the first time through it was really good.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I loved this review. You basically put into words everything I was feeling.
Although, I think Helena's portrayal of Bella was PERFECT.
And Cormac is so damn hot. :)

Alice said...

I really really agree. Ginny annoyed me intensely and Micheal Gambon was less obnoxious but he still can't act. Ginny just wasent sexy enough, she needs to exude confidence and humor, and that just didn't happen. I'm okay with it because the rest of the movie was so orgasmic.

Laura said...

Maybe I'm too much of a R/Hr fangirl, but I don't see how more people don't have complaints about the romance in the film. I thought they did a terrible job with that (save the spearmint toothpaste scenes). I feel like Ron was very Ron at some points, but at other times very, very unRon. For example, the way he reacted to Hermione's snogging comment in The Three Broomsticks = unRon. The lack of a reaction to Lavender's "occupied" room comment = unRon. Him just sitting in the background at the end = unRon (I thought I'd mention that even though it's not romance-related). I just felt like they made him seem super oblivious. Also, the movie made it seem as if Hermione likes Ron more than Ron likes her. I just feel that book!Ron would have had a lot more ears-turning-pink/embarrassed kind of scenes than acting like a douche. Appropriately acting like a douche when Lavender made that comment about the occupied room would've been awesome, or at least looking hurt. I mean, COME ON, Harry and Hermione together is one of Ron's worst nightmares (hello, locket scene). And book!Ron never sat in the background while Hermione talked on his behalf to Harry. Blerg!
And even though R/Hr is my OTP, I still felt sorry for H/G. I thought they were worse off. They were cheated out of a relationship, and given awkward scenes instead. Mmm, I dunno. I'm just very conflicted because I enjoyed parts of the film, but these small bits are keeping me from saying that I enjoyed the whole thing.
P.S.- Big WTF to the Burrow scene, too. I knew the fighting was going to go down, but they never told us that they were going to burn the Burrow. HELLO, the Weasleys aren't made of galleons, you know!

Anonymous said...

Ah, I just realised why Dumbledore wouldn't freeze him in the movie- he didn't have the cloak on him in the cave! It was never mentioned that Harry needed his cloak on him at all times this year.
I was really bothered with how Lavender was played! The actress was just fine, but she was instructed to be an obsessed stalker weirdo as opposed to a teeny-bopper girl who just decided she had a crush and wanted it to be serious. But I LOVED the details taken from the book, just the simple fact that Hermione's hair got bushier over her cauldron in the Living Death scene made my day :)
FINALLY Michael Gambon got it almost spot-on... I blubbed to see him go. And yes, Narcissa's hair was stupid- I thought it was a hat until I saw the movie a 3rd time :P BUT she (and that scene) was perfectly done. That actress was actually the one who was GOING to play Bellatrix before she got pregnant- nice move, eh? I'd better stop nerdifying. xx

mlijeko said...

personally, all i could think about was draco during the entire film.



(good acting from that tom felton dude too.)


seriously though.


hott.

Tabatha said...

Have you ever noticed that on the movie cover for Prisoner of Azkaban, Daniel Radcliffe's eyes are brown?

Iunno. it annoys me.

i mean, if the character's eyes are green, and the actor's eyes are blue, What? did they come up with a neutral color to throw us all off and to compensate for the fact that he wont wear contacts? RAWRR. It annoys me.

Cat(: said...

did anyone else notice that harry's scar was completely absent for 3/4 of the movie?!!?

whaaat~?!?!>

so wierd.

anyways, i completely agree with you. this was actually NOT painful to watch.

although i wonder what theyre going to do about the lost diadem of ravenclaw considering they completely screwed up the scene where he hides it and dont even show the wizard bust with the tiara and wig.

Anonymous said...

Just googled Freddie Stroma. Gave him a 2 syllable "damn".

Anonymous said...

i was really disapointed with the movie :(

firstly it started and i was like WTF!!! i mean ' i like trains' or whatver Harry said!!!
Second HARRYS SCAR WASNT THERE EXCEPT FOR LIKE ONE SCENE!!!!
Third Narcissas hair agrivated me.
Fourth what was the whole omg dumbledores dead lets all stand there like gorms and point our wands in the air!?!?!?
and it miffed me off the way that harry just stood by and watched the tower scene.
and GRRR the H/G kiss was not right i mean i was really looking forward to it then she kisses him and vanishes!?
and Lavender was odd! nuff said
The burrow on fire!!! what!?!?!? why was that even included?
And the bathroom fight was good but after when Draco was like dying Snape was just like whatever... BTW Draco/Tom Felton was ace in this movie!! :)

so yeah major rant! but i was unhappy
however there are some redeeming features to the film apart from Draco :)
-Weaslys Wizard Wheezes
-Harry on liquid luck
-Pincers
-Poof!

i apologise for the awful grammar, and spelling in this but thats my view anyway :)