Today I got to see the test screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It took place in Chicago at the AMC River East. It was a secret screening, no one in the audience was supposed to know before hand what they were seeing. I was one of only a small handful who already knew what we would be seeing, but I was sworn to secrecy. It was truly the hardest secret I ever had to keep.
I am so sorry everyone, in my haste to write my review I completely forgot the cave scene! So here it is-
Dumbledore meets Harry at the top of the Astronomy tower and they apparate to outside the cave. As they are leaving Harry is surprised that that they can apparate from within the Hogwarts grounds, and Dumbledore says something along the lines of "That's the beauty of being headmaster."
The scene they apparate to, despite being slightly unfinished was nonetheless absolutely breathtaking. Cliffs and huge waves dominate the scene. Dumbledore finds their way to the anti-chamber and slits his hand (for you star trek fans – he does it in a Klingon way – straight across the inside of his hand). The wall crumbles away and Dumbledore explains to Harry that Voldemort would have set up defenses around the Horcrux.
The cave is very different than what I had pictured and than all the fan art I have seen, but still a chilling and amazing sight. It reminded me a bit of a normal cave mixed with the ice crystal place Superman goes to in one of his movies. The whole cave is a vast formation of huge crystals, jagged and rough, jutting out from the ceiling walls and floor.
They make their way to the water and Dumbledore cautions Harry not to touch it and he starts to raise the boat with magic. Then he has Harry reel it in with a very heavy long chain.
The island is a formation of crystals as is the basin. Now the only really cheesy and unspectacular thing about this whole scene is that they use a large white clam shell partially imbedded in a small rock to scoop up the potion. In my opinion it looked rather silly. Dumbledore tell Harry to force him to drink the potion and Gambon once again does a slightly better than usual job being forced to drink the potion.
At one point towards the end you can very softly hear Dumbledore mumble something like "please don't hurt them, it's all my fault." But it was almost inaudible and I doubt anyone who has not read the book caught the line at all. Then after the last scoop is drunk, Gambon kind of goes back to his rather poor, unresearched acting and says with far too much strength. "Harry, Water."
But first Harry goes back to the Basin and recovers the locket and in the background we can hear Dumbledore saying "Harry, water" getting slightly weaker each time he says it. Harry attempts to fill the basin with water the aguamenti charm, but can not get the scoop the water up with that silly shell. After trying several times and Dumbledore starting to collapse he goes to the lake to fill it there.
Suddenly the light that was emanating from the island with the basin goes out, and Harry lights his wand (most unfortunately with the non-existent spell luminous-maximus, or whatever it was he used in the beginning of the third movie), and slowly reaches down to scoop up the lake water. The moment he touches it a hand reaches out and grabs Harry's wrist. The whole audience jumped in fear. Harry tries to fend off the inferi with all the spells we hear him try in the books. But in the end he is pulled down into the water.
Before I go on I must say the Inferi scene was one of the most spectacular of this movie. They looked a bit like the newer version of the Dementor, but much more human shaped and brownish. I fear I am not describing them well, because they were truly a scary site to see. The camera angles captured the scene of Harry trying hopelessly to defend himself and Dumbledore from them as they clambered onto the island from all different angles and the sheer number of them eventually overwhelms Harry and he is pulled down deep into the lake.
While Harry is underwater the view we have is from below him looking up and we can see the whole island from below as well. Suddenly the Inferi holding Harry releases him and he swims up to a surface covered in ferocious flame. The "ring of fire" Dumbledore conjures is an unbelievable sight, far more than I think anyone pictured in the books, but incredibly spectacular. Harry and Dumbledore climb back in the boat and the scene then cuts to Harry helping Dumbledore through the cave.
The every so anticipated lines of (I am paraphrasing) "Don't worry sir, I'll get us back" and Dumbledore replying "I am not worried, I am with you" are said. Executed very well by Radcliffe though rather poorly in my opinion by Gambon who clearly does not know the significant emotional value we fans know those lines have.
They then apparate back to the top of the astronomy tower. There is no dark mark in the sky. But as Dumbledore says he needs Severus not Madame Pomfrey they hear a commotion and Dumbledore orders Harry to go and hide and not come out or interfere. A command the book Harry would never have followed, but that the movie Harry would obey. Harry goes underneath the wooden floor of the tower where Dumbledore is standing where he can see everything through large gaps between the wood slates. Draco arrives and Tom does a brilliant job as a boy trying to be fierce and terrified at the same time. Some lines from the book are rather butchered by Dumbledore saying things like "Draco, you are not an assassin." Then the Death Eaters arrive all in masks except Bellatrix and Greyback. Bellatrix urges Draco to do it though his wand lowers slightly.
Meanwhile under the floor Harry who is watching terrified with his wand at the ready is sneaked up on by Snape, whose wand is also out and puts his finger to his lips to make sure Harry stays quiet. My description does not quite capture that scene well enough, but I was surprised to find my heart ripping, perhaps because I knew what was going to happen when Snape appeared there. Snape quietly appears above, and Dumbledore, with far too much strength says "Severus Please."
And Snape does the Avada Kadavra, and Bellatrix is ecstatic. The scene with Dumbledore being lifted into the air was unfortunately unfinished because we see him up in the air and then apparently falling down the side of the tower, but there was no motion yet. He is stationary in both scenes. I am sure more special effects will be added later. Then Bellatrix casts the Dark Mark (another amazing updated special effect with a black smoke skull and snake tongue). The Deatheaters all run out, destroying a bit of the castle in a euphoric tantrum along the way. There is no battle inside Hogwarts and the only one to chase them is Harry.
There was no Amycus or Alecto anywhere I could see. Oh, and there is no Rosmerta either. Forgot to mention that before.
Anyway, the Deatheaters set Hagrid's hut on fire and the scene I already described happens between Harry and Snape. Harry then returns to find the whole school gathered around Dumbledore's body, McGonagall in the front completely stunned and silent. Harry kneels down at Dumbledore's side, brushes a hair out of his face and finds the locket, but does not open it. Clutching the locket He starts to cry and Ginny goes and holds him also crying. Then following McGonagall's lead, everyone lights there wand (I think they all murmur something in unison but I can't remember what) and slowly raise them as one in the air. Final shot of that scene is from above with all the lighted wands surrounding the tower, Dumbledore, Harry and Ginny.
DIGITAL SPY
Today I got to see the test screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It took place in Chicago at the AMC River East. It was a secret screening, no one in the audience was supposed to know before hand what they were seeing. I was one of only a small handful who already knew what we would be seeing, but I was sworn to secrecy. It was truly the hardest secret I ever had to keep.
It was not entirely complete, however aside from a few blue screens in the background, and one or two special effects missing, it was barely noticeable.
I am a huge fan of Ginny and Harry so I will start with them. There is a lot more Ginny than ever before. She nearly equaled Ron for screen time. We first see her at the Burrow when Harry arrives outside and the first thing he sees is her reading through the window. Harry Just stands there for a moment, gazing up at her. Although she is dating Dean Thomas she never looks happy with him, except when she is snogging him at The Three Broomsticks. She was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. But the only game we saw was from the Felix Felicis chapter when Ron believes Harry has slipped him the potion. During Christmas at the Burrow, Ginny and Harry wind up on the stairs alone and start to lean into each other to kiss, when the attack on the Burrow interrupts them.
The Burrow does not burn down, but it is surrounded by a ring of fire conjured by Bellatrix. Harry, seeing Bellatrix, runs after her, and Ginny runs after him, right into Greyback. But Harry comes to the rescue and the two of them stand in a very high growing cornfield fending off attacks from the deatheaters. Lupin and Tonks come to the rescue, but that is I believe the last we see of them. There is no Tonks and Lupin relationship and although Tonks' hair is brown there is no notice taken or any explanation given.
Tom Felton did a fantastic job in this film. Draco character remains true to the book, he even stamps on Harry's nose. But, sadly, we never get the pleasure of seeing Crabb and Goyle disguised as girls. In fact, they are hardly in this movie. The Sectumsempra scene was really good, even without moaning Myrtle. As Harry and Draco throw spells at each other poor Nigel sits frozen on one of the toilets. Snape runs in shortly and McGonagall is in the doorway after Harry cast the spell (Draco never yells Crucio) and he does do a cure his wounds with a spell that sounds almost like song. But he does not use legilimency on Harry, who runs straight out of the bathroom to McGonagall. In the next scene Hermione and Ginny band together and tell Harry to hide the potions book so not even Harry can find it. Ginny takes Harry to the room of Requirement, and makes him close his eyes while she hides the book. Then she kisses him briefly. By the time he opens his eyes she has vanished.
There was definitely tension between Ron and Hermione. In the very beginning at the Burrow, Ron cleans off a bit of toothpaste from Hermione's cheek. Later in Slughorn's class she describes what she smells in the love potion and trails off with "spearmint toothpaste…" Lavender is quite nauseating and although she never gives Ron a necklace she does something equally as vomit worthy, steaming up a window on the Hogwarts Express with her breath and drawing a heart with "R + L" inside it. His relationship ends when he is unconscious and moaning Hermione's name after being poisoned. He remains confused about why it ended but very relieved.
The kid who played young Tom Riddle was Brilliant. His voice and demeanor raised the hairs on the back of my neck. There is no mention of the Gaunts, but the scene in Slughorn's office is there. Dumbledore however is truly surprised to learn that Riddle made 7 Horcruxes. It is in that scene that he realizes the ring is a Horcrux. He realizes what it was because when harry handles it briefly he moved his head like Voldemort.
We do get to hear Hagrid and Slughorn singing about Odo the Hero, and Harry is funny and a few lines where true to the book while under the influence of Felix Felicis. There is no Professor Trelawney, or the Dursleys. No Kreacher (no mention of inheriting Grimmauld Place whatsoever) or Dobby, or Bill and Fleur. There are no scenes with the Minister of Magic, and I don't believe they even mentioned Fudge was sacked (though I may have missed it).
Oh and most sadly of all, no description from Luna about the dangers of the Rotfang Conspiracy. Nor does she commentate the Quidditch match. Luna's role was very small, but she does have the lion hat and she is the one to find Harry on the train under the invisibility cloak with the help of her Spectrespecs.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was awesome!!! I only wish it were a real store. Unfortunately no U-No-Poo sign, but it was still a sight to see.
The scene with Harry and Snape at the end was the least finished of the movie; the background was mostly screens and lights and occasionally a sound persons head. It was very close to the book, though I thought Snape could have been stronger and angrier, when Harry called him a coward. His some of his last words to Harry are "You may have your mother's eyes but you are as dim as your father!"
As a huge fan of the books I have found myself getting more and more disappointed by all the changes in the movies and especially in Michael Gambon's portrayal of Dumbledore who is my favorite character. That being said I was really pleasantly surprised by this movie. Many of the changes were actually entertaining and Gambon has improved enough to be tolerable. It was so much better than Order of the Phoenix. Overall I really enjoyed this movie and can not wait to see it again.
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No funeral for Dumbledore, although as much as I hate cuts it was not very necessary.
There is no Tonks and Lupin. They are both in it but barely. Tonks has maybe 2 lines. Lupin never talks about Greyback. No explanation is given to Tonks having brown hair.
No Dursleys at all. No Privet Drive. No inheriting Grimmauld place or Kreacher as there is no Kreacher or Dobby.
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The movie opens with a scene from OOTP, of Dumbledore and Harry at the ministry on the night Sirius dies, standing in front of a barrage of flash bulbs. Then it cuts to an interior shot of an ultra modern office building overlooking the Millenium Bridge. There are dementors flying through the air and then the bridge starts to wave violently and then collapses with lots of people on it.
In the next scene we see Harry reading about the bridge in the Daily Prophet at a tube-side coffee shop in Little Whinging. He flirts with the waitress and asks her what time she gets off work. But he is distracted by a passing train. When the train finally clears out, we see Dumbledore standing importantly on the platform. Harry joins him and immediately he is whisked away (side-along apparition) to Slughorn's house.
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No the Movie ends with the trio plus Ginny on top of the Astronomy tower talking and Harry saying he is going alone to find the Horcruxes. Hermione says something like, yeah right, you think your going alone? We are coming too. (major paraphrasing there) Then Ginny not saying a word sadly just walks away and leaves. She actually does not speak during the entire scene. Nor is she spoken to. She just listens looking sadder and increasingly heartbroken.
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Bellatrix runs on the table right after Dumbledore is killed. She is so excited, no euphoric and that is one of her ways of celebrating I suppose.
Harry and Ginny are hugging in greeting. Harry arrives unexpectedly at the Burrow. No one there knows he is going to come and stay. THey are all completely suprised. Although they scene is completely unfaithful to the book it is rather funny. Harry's trunk and Headwig suddenly appear and, oh it is a highly visual scene, can't explain it without it losing its humor.
I Personally think it is deplorable that the writers and directors of the HP movies thought it was necessary to change so much of the last few books when I believe part of the brillance of Rowling is how easy it is to form a clear picture in your head of the scenes she writes. I have always thought the movies, especially the last two did a terrible job mainly because of Gambon and also because of the diluted belief that people would not find a movie true to the book entertaining enough.
That said I was terrified that this movie would ruin the story, we all knew already how much was going to be invented. But this is the first time I think that their invented scenes actually worked (for the most part). I actually enjoyed watching it, I was honestly expecting to cringe throughout the movie like I have in the past.
So would I have prefered them to have been true to the book? Absolutely. But the previous movies have already ruined that possiblity. To much was changed and left out for them to start being faithful to the story now.
So that all things considered this was much better than I would have thought possible.
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If memory serves be I don't think Hermione is at the Burrow during the attack. It was during Christmas and she was upset with Ron about Lavender during that time. Ron was not the focus of the attack on the Burrow Harry and Ginny were.
The first kiss of Lavender and Ron was witnessed by both Harry and Hermione. Harry watches with a stupid boyish grin and Hermione faces slowely turns from a smile to looking utterly heartbroken. She quietly turns away to leave, and just as she leaves Harry turns and notices. She is far less angry than she is just heartbroken. She does send the birds she conjures at Ron but she is not so much furious as she is crushed and hurt.
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QUESTION: Could you please describe how the Poisoning scene happened in the movie with Ron? Starting from the spiked love potioned chocolates to when he collapses from the poisoned meade.
The scene opens with Ron staring lovingly at the moon from the boys' dormitory window (lol). Harry comes into the room and Ron tells Harry that he's in love. Harry sits on his bed and Ron climbs on right next to him (more lol) and the dialogue follows about the same from the book if I remember correctly. Harry says, "I thought you were getting tired of her" or something and Ron gets offended, Harry gets confused, thinks they're talking about Lavender but Ron says he's talking about Romilda Vane and asks to be introduced. Harry asks if Ron's eaten something, Harry sees the empty wrappers and box and puts two and two together and gets him to Slughorn's office. Harry asks Slughorn for the antidote, Slughorn lets them in, and he concocts the potion. At one point Ron comes from behind Slughorn and hugs him and so Harry sets him down on the couch (scene is shot with Harry and Slughorn infront, couch behind). Slughorn wonders why Harry couldn't just perform the potion himself but Harry says it's particularly strong and Slughorn agrees. Ron is acting goofy in the back, at one point he sits on the back seating of the couch and falls off! After they get Ron right, Slughorn pulls out a flasks, pours glasses, and they toast to their health. Ron of course slurps his down before the others and he immediately collapses. He starts going a bit gray, convulsing, foaming at the mouth a bit; Harry freaks out, tells Ron to breathe, yells at Slughorn to do something, Slughorn is too stunned to move so Harry hurries through his potion supplies, pulls out a bezoar (sp?) and pops it into his mouth. I forget the transitioning but we find Harry, Slughorn, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron at the infirmary wing.
This was such a good scene by the way, Ron was a laugh!
QUESTION: How did people react to Ron in particular?
Definitely laughing at Ron. He was hilarious under the love potion, very sensitive, very touchy to those close next to him! It was a well-done scene I thought.
QUESTION: Can you describe the hospital scene when he breaks up with Lavender?
Ron is lying unconscious on a bed with Ginny to the left and Hermione to the right. Harry and Slughorn are standing at the foot of the bed and Pomfrey enters to tend to him. McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore enters, inquires what happened. Slughorn said it was the meade which was gift and "actually it was a gift for you." Lavender bursts in, cries about her Won-Won, sees Hermione, is indignant and angrily wonders why she's there. Hermione retorts back and says she should be asking the same thing. Ron begins to startle and Lavender rushes to his side, holds his hand, and exclaim that he knows it's because she's there. Ron begins to mumble and eventually says, "Her-Mion-Ne." Lavender looks angry/hurt and runs out of the room and Hermione looks triumphant. Dumbledore comments something along the likes of, "Ah, the pangs of being a teenager in love." McGonagall gives a look, I think Snape rolls his eyes, lol. They start out of the infirmary wing and Harry is the last to leave, he looks back and Hermione is holding Ron's hand (still unconscious) and leaning over his bed. She looks up at Harry and says, "Oh, shut up."
I forget how this went in the book, but the next day Ron has no idea how he broke up with Lavender (although he's pleased) while she's giving him the stink eye at breakfast across the great hall, aha.
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There is no battle in hogwarts like in the books. Bellatix and the others run through Hogwarts triumphantly and Hagrids house is set on fire. But no one but Harry takes any action and that is only on Snape as far as I can remember. Snape blocks all of Harry's curses.
For those asking about the bloodyness of the Sectum Sempra scene, it was not very bloody but many of the wounds on draco did not appear to be gushing. Before you all get upset, I think the extra blood is probably just a special effect not yet added. The scene implied much more blood than was seen. I am pretty sure this will be added in later.
There is really no implication that Ginny and Harry are dating, much to my dismay. It seemed much more that their feeling were both made very clear but no further action was taken. No implied stolen hours in secluded corners in the Hogwarts grounds.
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The movie started by taking off right from where the other one ended and transitioning right into the theme of the 6th book where the death eaters are running amok there's chaos everywhere...
Dumbledore takes Harry along to slughorn's and at this point i thought i was getting a little wary considering slughorn wasn't at all like i imagined him to be... there's an illustration of slughorn in the book and that's more or less what i thought he would look like, whereas in the movie, he's much taller and a little thinner, and less indlugent and opulent looking..so i was a lil dissapointed by that, but trust me, as the movie goes on, that doesnt matter a bit because he fits in very well with the whole package...
The Weasley's house, Hogwarts, and the Hogwarts express have quite a different feel and look to them!
Get ready to see some noticeable changes in the sets, art production and general look of the movie..they have been tweaked a bit, but in a very, very good way!! you will NOT be dissapointed..
It was very refreshing and the cinematography and color scheme worked so well..it really drew you in...reminiscent of how Azkaban plunged into such a different theme, compared to the first two movies..
The settings were eerily beautiful..it was so other-worldly.... man, i wish i was living in it!!!
Also , i must say... the background music was just amazing, very beautiful...i think the best so far!!!
I absolutely loved the way all of Ron & Hermione's romantic interludes and squirmishes were handled...they got some of the biggest laughs out of the audience... and talking abt laughs, this movie is definitely the funniest one so far..there were lots of humorous moments, and lots of inside jokes for those who have read the books!!! much much funnier than the Order of the Phoenix...
Some of the parts that i feel were rushed over were Dumbledore's first meeting with the young Voldemort and the half blood prince's potions book...those sequences were far too short and should have been given more precedence but as this movie was an unfinished product, they may change up a bit here and there!!
SPOILER!!!
DON't read any further if you haven't read the book!!
My favourite scene:
Dumbledore's death was just.....ahhhh...i'm speechless,i felt exactly how i felt when i read it the first time.....felt horribly sad!!! so obviously, they did a good job with it... the entire Dumbledore - Draco interaction was very touching..! and btw,you really feel for Draco as the movie progresses!
my only gripe, was the part where Harry's going after Snape when he's running off with draco and the death eaters..i think that could have been a lot better!
I don't what it was...maybe its that Harry didnt seem to be angry enough ...there was something that bugged me...but like i said, they'll probably change some things around
as for the actors,
Everyone did a fabulous job, i thought Daniel Radcliffe really came into his own here. Maybe it was that this is what Harry has grown up to be, or maybe it was that this is what Daniel has decided on for Harry to be..but Harry was exactly what we know him to be in the book - intense, honorable, sincere , determined, sarcastic and caring
Rupert and Emma were great - very funny.
Luna Lovegood was so mmuch better in this than the 'Order'..she got quite a few laughs as well..
Hagrid appeared in only a couple scenes as did Professor McGonagall
Alan Rickman...what can i say? did absolute justice, as always..!
And finally, the director - David Yates is to be given full credit for making such a beautiful movie and taking the risk of fine tuning some beloved familiar sights and do such a fabulous job of it!!! All the sequences in the book have been weaved in an ingenious way to create a seamless work of art...
Like i said, i didnt think much of the "Order of the Phoenix' and was very dissapointed as it was one of my top books of the series but he's made up for it and HOW with the half blood prince... just bloody brilliant! thank you thank you thank you Mr. Yates!!!!
yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, im so happy the movie was so great!!!
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I'm kinda disappointed that Scrimgeour isn't in the film - i think it is relatively important to the ministry storyline but they've pretty much cut that and to Harry's story as it does show that he is DD's man through and through.
I'm also disappointed that Ginny is in the room when they talk about going after horcruxes after DD dies. She is not supposed to know about them unless they don't mention horcruxes.
AINTITCOOL
Hi. I saw Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince this past Saturday in Chicago. It was presented on the flyers as a mystery screening, and right before it started, a man with a microphone said we were the first people to see it. Maybe 75% of the special effects were complete. Also, some pieces of music from Batman Begins were on the soundtrack, indicating the score had yet to be totally completed. The runtime of this version was about 145 minutes.
I read the books once, maybe twice for a couple of them, but I'm definitely not what I'd call a fanatic. I've seen the movies, but started to lose interest in them after the fourth, which I felt they could have done a much better job with. I read Half-Blood Prince about three years ago and don't remember all of the details, so please bear with me.
And there are spoilers, so don't say I didn't warn you.
The film opens with an assault on a bridge in London by Death Eaters. The fly around it in corkscrew-like formations, causing the bridge to collapse into the water below. They make their way into Diagon Alley, put a bag over some guy's head, and take him away. It was a pretty spectacular opening, and I understand after talking to a couple of people that the filmmakers decided to show some of the Death Eaters' assaults on muggles instead of having two guys in a room talking about it as it was portrayed in the book, but in regards to the rest of the film, I couldn't understand really why it was there. Whoever gets kidnapped doesn't reappear for the rest of the movie, and the money spent on that opening sequence (which isn't in the book) could have been diverted to something that happens later on, the absence of which should leave fans of the book disappointed. (The person getting kidnapped might be Ollivander, and the person getting bagged might have been a stand-in for him – all of the effects weren't finished. Why they would do that digitally, though, makes no sense to me.)
We're introduced to Horace Slughorn, who is played by Jim Broadbent. When I first heard he wouldn't be fat and he wouldn't have a mustache, I was irritated, but Broadbent's character is easily the most enjoyable in the film. There's two scenes where he's drunk that are great. He takes over as the Potions teacher, and Harry finds a book that once belonged to the Half-Blood Prince. In one scene, Harry follows the book's modified potion-making instructions and gets proper results as the rest of his classmates fail around him. This leads me to another problem I had with the film – the mystery as to who the Half-Blood Prince is takes a backseat to all the dating stuff. Some of it's pleasant and funny, but it should have been background comic relief to help balance the drama in the forefront. There's a part where Harry fights Malfoy in a bathroom and he uses some violent spell, causing Malfoy's chest to bleed, but the fact that Harry got the spell from the potions book was lost on me. I might have missed something, but regardless, whatever scene or line of dialogue was supposed to emphasize that fact definitely needs more attention. Also, there's a scene during Christmas that wasn't in the book where some Death Eaters attack the Weasley household, drawing first Harry and Ginny into a field of wheat (or something), then Lupin and someone else, I forget who. The scene feels totally unnecessary –tacked on to give the audience a jolt of action at around the halfway point of the film.
I had the most problems with the film's final third. Harry and Dumbledore's trip to the caves seemed to come out of nowhere, as did Dumbledore's declaration that he had to drink the water from the podium in which the locket they were after was held. I don't remember if that's how it happened in the book, but I remember arriving at that location & conclusion in a way that at least felt more natural.
After that, they make their way to the tower and instead of using a charm to immobilize Harry and cover him with the invisibility cloak like in the book, Dumbledore just sends Harry away, and Harry goes downstairs, stops & watches the following scene through cracks in the floor above him. Malfoy tries to kill Dumbledore but realizes he can't. Snape arrives on the floor below & signals Harry to be quiet, which he uncharacteristically does. Snape then goes upstairs & sends Dumbledore to his death. The modifications made to this scene from book to film are terrible, and they partially blow what may be the biggest surprise of the entire franchise.
Afterwards, there is no enormous battle. The Death Eaters stroll out silently. I remember the fight in the book being fantastic, and I personally would rather have had a short scene in the beginning with two guys talking about the horrible things the Death Eaters are doing than eliminate the battle at the end. Harry runs after them and confronts Snape, who quietly tells him he's the Half-Blood Prince. Again, due to lack of attention paid to this plotline, I didn't really care. In the book, he screams his response. The book has Snape screaming and the film has him using his indoor voice. What a disappointment.
And as if this weren't enough, there is no funeral for Dumbledore. It's been cut.
They have almost a year before this film is released, so there's plenty of time for editing, which is good news because this cut was quite underwhelming. A woman in our post-screening discussion of about 20-25 people said she usually cries at movies, but didn't react at all when Dumbledore died. Hopefully, the filmmakers will ease up on the relationship stuff and emphasize more of the potions book/Half-Blood Prince plot. I'd like to think they'd shoot that missing end battle and also shoot the funeral, but I doubt the studio would be willing to spend any more money, especially because of how elaborate the battle was in the book.
Jimbo Wage
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Hello. I saw an incredibly early test screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Saturday in Chicago. It was an event shrouded in secrecy, the audience only being told what film they had come to see seconds before the lights went down, and I was honestly excited. Like, five-year old boy excited.
My disappointment with what followed is endless.
Warning: this review contains many, many spoilers.
First, let's go with what was good if for no other reason than it will take less time. The opening, far different from the novel, was very strong. We see a bridge destroyed by Death Eaters, Diagon Alley blown to bits, Harry and Dumbledore mourning before an onslaught of Magical Press, and Snape making a very ominous, very Unbreakable Vow. I got a real sense of urgency, of darkly engrossing things to come. And they did. Just not in the sense that I had expected.
There was also the inspiring performance by Jim Broadbent as Prof. Horace Slughorn. Easily the most enjoyable character in the film, I found myself lolling away the scenes he was absent from anticipating the next one he was in. In fact, there was a lot of good humor, not only from Broadbent. There is a lot of teen drama in this film, most notably a love triangle between Harry, Ginnie Weasley, and Dean Thomas. A love potion gone awry adds a bit of welcomed lightness for Ron Weasley (who finally gets a crack at Quidditch, one of many points of anticipation hacked out of the last film).
And, well, that's about it.
The problem with all of this romance is All of This Romance. It dominates the movie, drawing our focus away not only from major plot points – which fall disastrously through the cracks – but also deters the mood, which, in a (nearly) penultimate film, should be at the forefront.
The title of this film is Harry Potter and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE but the title character gets next to no screen time and even less explanation, save for a few asides that, if you haven't read the book, may as well have been cut. Better to call the movie Harry Potter and the Hormones from Hedes and save us our disillusionment.
Most of my issues with this film deal with deletions and alterations from the book, which would be okay if they were for the betterment of the movie-going experience, except that they're not. Gone are notable characters such as Rufus Schrimgouer, Fleur Delacour, and Bill and Charlie Weasley. Series regulars such as Maggie Smith and Robbie Coltrane are reduced two line cameos.
For a book based on Harry and Dumbledore's quest to find out more about Voldemort, and how to stop him, via his memories, all but three memories have been cut from the film. Why is it that the filmmakers decided it was more important to focus on teen-age love rather than what are inarguably critical plot points? It is aneurysm inducing logic that will surely leave me dead in my bathtub.
And the ending. Good God, the ending. Not only is the fight between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix completely removed, but so is Dumbledore's funeral. The last third of this movie is so incredibly mishandled that Dumbledore's death feels more like an unfortunate accident than genuine tragedy. No one in the film seems even remotely upset that he's gone and the Death Eaters who murdered him, including would-be-good-guy Severus Snape (Alan Rickman, the title-character in cameo form), walk out of Hogwarts unmolested.
Anyone who has read the book (an incredible sum of folk who Warner Bros. seem to have forgotten are the target audience – either that or they have some personal vendetta against them) will be severely, SEVERELY disappointed with this film. Let's just hope that in the ten intervening months between now and the film's release, Warner's will take the time and the money to fix this incredible mess.
Sadly, I'm not holding my breath.
Michael Bravo
