Sim1Merlin's Beard!
July 18th 2009 12:22
I finally got to see the long-awaited Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince today. Was it my favourite Potter movie? No. That accolade still belongs to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Was it worth the wait? Of course it was! It’s a new Harry Potter movie and I love all Harry Potter movies but this latest offering wasn’t without its flaws. I thought it was a little inconsistent. There were no ghosts at Hogwarts. Could John Cleese not be bothered, I wonder, or has the global financial crisis hit the famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and they’ve had to lay off staff?
Hagrid’s hut appears to have been moved to the Alps. For some undisclosed reason. Sure, there have always been hills behind Hogwarts and around the gamekeeper’s abode, but it’s never been THAT bloody mountainous before! But I think for me, the most scandalous thing of all was the fact that Harry Potter didn’t have a scar! And believe me, dear readers, from the moment I noticed the missing lightning bolt, I kept looking out for it in every scene. I am now intimately familiar with Daniel Radcliffe’s forehead and throughout the entire movie, the scar appears in two scenes only. TWO SCENES!!! But when it does make an appearance, it is very prominent so don’t try to tell me the scar has faded over the years and that’s why you can’t see it in the movie...I won’t buy it. I will remain of the opinion that through most of the film, Harry Potter did not have a scar. And that was mighty disappointing for me, an avid Potter fanatic. Also, I am not sure that the Weasley residence has always been located in a field? But I can overlook that, it’s not half as criminal as the missing scar.
On the plus side, it was probably the funniest of the HP movies. The script was peppered with smart humour; gems such as the boy’s conversation about what guys see in girls and vice versa:
Harry: ‘Well, she is smart. Attractive...’ ‘
Ron: ‘Attractive?’
Harry: ‘Yeah, she has nice skin.’
Ron: ‘Are you telling me he’s going out with her because of her skin?’
Harry: ‘It’s certainly a contributing factor.’
Or the scene where Dumbledore takes Harry to see Professor Slughorn, who, incidentally had just transformed himself into a stripey arm chair so as to avoid visitors.
Dumbledore: ‘You might be wondering by now why I’ve brought you here.’
Harry: ‘Well Sir, after all these years, I’m kinda just going with it.’
Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn was inspired casting. But then inspired casting has always been a trademark of the HP movies. My favourite still being Alan Rickman as Professor Snape.
And Ralph Fiennes’ (Lord Voldemort) nephew Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (stupid name, by the way) as the young Tom Riddle was brilliantly creepy. ‘I can hurt people if they are mean to me.’ Sure you can kiddo, you just need to look at them with your evil stare and they’d drop dead.
And of course, Luna Lovegood. A brilliant performance once again from Evanna Lynch. And put your hands together for the wardrobe department who came up with that fabulous lion hat that she wore to the Quidditch.
If they’re planning on making two more movies though, they need to get a wriggle on, because the kids are growing up fast. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) is turning into a fine looking young man, tall and chiselled. Daniel Radcliffe, sadly, is not so lucky.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was one of the longest books in the series and so it is difficult to wedge all that content into 153 minutes. As a result, some scenes have had to be cut and some bits left out. I was hoping for a little more drama around the killing of Dumbledore. Instead, Snape just rushes in and yells the Killing Curse and it’s all over in a split second. Maybe they could have cut out a couple of ‘Merlin’s Beard!’s and dedicated the time saved to the passing of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
The book also offers a lot more explanation around who the Half Blood Prince is and why he is named so, but in the interest of time, the explanation was cut and so all you learn is that it was Severus Snape who chose ‘Half Blood Prince’ as his stripper name.
But all the bitching aside, it is a great movie. Pure, magical entertainment. Thank you David Yates, for an enjoyable two and a half hours. Just remember for the next instalment- Harry Potter is supposed to have a scar, goddamnit! Merlin’s Beard, how could you forget???!!
Was it worth the wait? Of course it was! It’s a new Harry Potter movie and I love all Harry Potter movies but this latest offering wasn’t without its flaws. I thought it was a little inconsistent. There were no ghosts at Hogwarts. Could John Cleese not be bothered, I wonder, or has the global financial crisis hit the famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and they’ve had to lay off staff?
On the plus side, it was probably the funniest of the HP movies. The script was peppered with smart humour; gems such as the boy’s conversation about what guys see in girls and vice versa:
Ron: ‘Attractive?’
Harry: ‘Yeah, she has nice skin.’
Ron: ‘Are you telling me he’s going out with her because of her skin?’
Harry: ‘It’s certainly a contributing factor.’
Or the scene where Dumbledore takes Harry to see Professor Slughorn, who, incidentally had just transformed himself into a stripey arm chair so as to avoid visitors.
Dumbledore: ‘You might be wondering by now why I’ve brought you here.’
Harry: ‘Well Sir, after all these years, I’m kinda just going with it.’
Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn was inspired casting. But then inspired casting has always been a trademark of the HP movies. My favourite still being Alan Rickman as Professor Snape.
And Ralph Fiennes’ (Lord Voldemort) nephew Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (stupid name, by the way) as the young Tom Riddle was brilliantly creepy. ‘I can hurt people if they are mean to me.’ Sure you can kiddo, you just need to look at them with your evil stare and they’d drop dead.
And of course, Luna Lovegood. A brilliant performance once again from Evanna Lynch. And put your hands together for the wardrobe department who came up with that fabulous lion hat that she wore to the Quidditch.
If they’re planning on making two more movies though, they need to get a wriggle on, because the kids are growing up fast. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) is turning into a fine looking young man, tall and chiselled. Daniel Radcliffe, sadly, is not so lucky.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was one of the longest books in the series and so it is difficult to wedge all that content into 153 minutes. As a result, some scenes have had to be cut and some bits left out. I was hoping for a little more drama around the killing of Dumbledore. Instead, Snape just rushes in and yells the Killing Curse and it’s all over in a split second. Maybe they could have cut out a couple of ‘Merlin’s Beard!’s and dedicated the time saved to the passing of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
The book also offers a lot more explanation around who the Half Blood Prince is and why he is named so, but in the interest of time, the explanation was cut and so all you learn is that it was Severus Snape who chose ‘Half Blood Prince’ as his stripper name.
But all the bitching aside, it is a great movie. Pure, magical entertainment. Thank you David Yates, for an enjoyable two and a half hours. Just remember for the next instalment- Harry Potter is supposed to have a scar, goddamnit! Merlin’s Beard, how could you forget???!!
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