Originally posted on another site on 4 January 2010.
Another DVD I received for Christmas was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Before I go any further, I must tell you that I have read the entire series of books. You can read my book review here.
So where do I start? I guess I should point out that when the movie started, I greatly regretted not having watched the previous one again, just to refresh my memory of where events were at.
I was surprised by how much the actors have grown up. That was a bit distracting for a while.
The graphics are, as always, excellent. I especially liked the effect when watching a memory commence – that pencilled in look around the edges at the beginning of them. Very impressive!
As for the story itself, I felt hugely disappointed. So much attention had been given to presentation that it felt promising at first, but unfortunately the same attention had not been given to substance (the plot). This meant that the storyline was lacking the details the author had put in and the movie didn’t feel as if it were going anyway. It was a let down. As I have read the books, I knew what was meant to be going on, but G has not read the books and became totally lost. When the movie ended, he told me that he was confused and I had to explain a few things to get him up to par. This is a sign that the movie lacked critical details.
Overall, I felt the movie was a “filler-inner”, setting up the audience for the last instalment. This breaks a major rule in story telling as it broke a promise to deliver a story; which is a beginning, middle and end. When the credits rolled up, I didn’t feel satisfied that a story had been told and neither did G. We both felt cheated!
Knowing what the last instalment brings, this makes me wonder if the film industry will be able to bring it together and deliver an ending that will leave the audience in awe. Because not to do so will mean they have failed miserably at their jobs. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
At this stage of the story, because we are closing in on the end, I would have liked to have watched a movie that left me gasping for more. I should have been writing a review that proudly displayed five out of five stars and I should be complaining that I simply cannot wait for the last movie to be presented to us. Instead, I do none of these things. For me, the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the worst movie so far. I hope, truly hope, that this isn’t an indication of what’s to come.