Bored at Starbucks, so may as well...
Jul. 21st, 2009 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinsySo yeah, finally saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yesterday. I actually didn't hate it. It was pretty good for a Harry Potter film (because the Harry Potter films are not the same as regular films -- they're not Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean, and they never will be, and I think a lot of the problems in the films stem from the filmmakers not realizing this). I mean, every film the cast is always like, "Oh, this one is so funny!" and then you see it and the humor is totally lame and it's kind of a letdown. But this time it actually was funny, and not just because some of the lovelorn angst scenes were unintentionally hilarious, but the scenes that were meant to be funny were also funny! It was such a pleasant surprise!
General thoughts:
-- Unexplained OotP flashback! Um, okay? Whatever?
-- So, the Death Eaters are evil and destroy the millennium bridge but miraculously no one dies? What? If you're going to destroy a bridge, commit to that shit and throw some bodies off! Don't be pansies!
-- Slughorn was cool. I have like, no Dumbledore complaints, incredibly, so hopefully Gambon will keep up the good work in DH. I mean, he's still not my Dumbledore, but he didn't throw Harry around or yell at other students, so I'm happy. Damn, I'm getting easy to please!
-- I haven't read the book in two years, but I remember it being kind of a big deal when Harry went to stay with the Weasleys, like, security wise. I'm pretty sure they had to prepare their house with all these security charms, and go to work in special ways and stuff. And in the movie it's so awkward and random because Dumbledore drops Harry off like, a mile away from the house in a freaking pond (seriously, I feel like Dumbledore could aim a little better! Although it did give Harry the opportunity to see Ginny through her window and realize his love for her, so maybe that was Dumbledore's intention all along), and then no one knew he was coming, and Hermione's already there living it up with the Weasleys without him. It's like OotP all over again! Although, I guess that kind of happened in the book too, so fair enough. But still, Dumbledore planning this and then not telling anyone involved? Bizarre!
-- Fred and George always talking in unison is so damn annoying! It's not even that they don't do it in the books, it's just irritating in its own right. If I were the Phelps twins, I'd get pissed off. That said, I just really, really heart the Weasley twins so much, and I still can't look at them and not be sad, even two years later. FRED IS NOT DEAD!
-- Lavender was perfect and hilarious! I found the love subplots really annoying in the book, but I actually enjoyed them in the film. Probably because I never had to hear about Harry's chest monster, plus some of the scenes with Harry and Hermione angsting together (particularly after the Quidditch match) were unintentionally hilarious. Unintentional hilarity makes everything better. "It feels like this." Like what, melodrama, emoness, and awkwardness? Seriously, Harry's facial expression as Hermione clings to his arm is amazing! It's like he doesn't want to be that close to her, but he does want to angst, so he's sort of putting up with it. But he's not happy about it. Also, the scene with Ginny in the Room of Requirement is so awkward! All the scenes with Ginny are awkward. I actually kind of love that.
-- I was right in my suspicions about the Burrow burning down. They totally just did it because they thought it would be cool. I mean, it wasn't a terrible scene and I didn't actively hate it, but it didn't really add anything to the story. It was just sort of in there for the sake of being in there, and look, the Weasleys have suffered enough! Can't we let them keep their damn house? That said, I actually loved Harry tearing off after Bellatrixlike a total idiot because OMG HE ACTUALLY REMEMBERS AND CARES ABOUT SIRIUS! That was the part of the book that pissed me off most, the glaring lack of Sirius grief. I mean, since my dog died, I do get the whole "pretend nothing happened" kind of grieving, but look, YOUR GODFATHER IS NOT A DOG! Except, I guess in this case he kind of is, but that's really not the point I'm trying to make here. Losing a parent is not the same as losing a pet, okay? I know, I've lost both, and the way Harry grieves for Sirius is not okay with me. So yes, still wanting to avenge Sirius was nice.
-- There was a severe lack of Neville and Luna, but I like to think they are just saving up all their AWESOME for the last installment. Except it did actually piss me off that Neville didn't get into the Slug Club because YES HE DID, YES HE DID! DON'T DOWNPLAY NEVILLE'S POWER OF AWESOME! (Only now that I just wrote that, I'm sort of second guessing myself. Maybe he didn't get in? Crap!)
-- Tom Felton, as ever, is the best young actor of the lot, so props to him. Um, I don't really know what to say about the way they handled the whole Vanishing Cabinet thing. I mean, it's a film, so you can't really handle it like a book where you mention it like, twice, and then it's just like, "SURPRISE! THAT CABINET IS CRUCIAL TO THE WHOLE PLOT!" So I get it on a fundamental level, but there's still a part of me that every time Malfoy used the cabinet just kept saying, "Subtlety: YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" Plus, I really don't have a problem with cutting out the battle at Hogwarts, except now the other Death Eaters are just sort of there, which basically makes the whole Vanishing Cabinet thing completely pointless, so yeah. I'm not saying I know what they should have done differently, but I wish they had. Done it differently, I mean.
-- Snape. Alan Rickman never fails to deliver! I have infinite love for that man! And I honestly really, really love the bit where he discovers Harry under the Astronomy Tower before he kills Dumbledore, because that makes Harry feel that much guiltier for not doing anything, while simultaneously making Snape that much more awesome because he was protecting Harry even then. It's just ingenious and gorgeous and I love it.
-- The whole Half-Blood Prince thing was so anticlimactic, but the thing is, that whole subplot isn't even crucial to the series. I guarantee that if it weren't the title of the book (and thus the movie), they would have cut it out, because even in the book the only thing it does is make Harry feel even more betrayed by Snape, and you can really only get that if you're inside his head. So in the film it just ends up being this awkward thing that they have to throw in because it's the title, which is really unfortunate.
-- The last scene is so incredibly bizarre and awkward. Why is Ron sitting over in the corner? Is he in time out or something? Why does Hermione speak for him and why does Harry only address Hermione? Did we miss the part where the poison made Ron deaf and mute? Does he have swine flu so he's quarantined? What is going on? It's not even like, "Oh, they never give Ron enough lines," it's just ... bizarre.
-- I've realized that my biggest issue with all the films really boils down to Dan and Rupert really not having very good onscreen chemistry. Because look, I was into the bromance before that was a word and it became cool. The most important aspect of the books for me, from the very beginning, has always been Harry and Ron's relationship, because it really is an epic bromance, and the films have never gotten that. I mean, Ron is the thing Harry would miss most. Not Hermione. Ron. And in the book that is so natural and organic, and in the film it seems so random and forced. The films are all about how Harry and Hermione are BFFs OMG! and Ron is just sort of there, and Dan has way better chemistry with Emma than he has with Rupert, so I sort of get why they went that way, but NO! There is a whole section in GoF where Harry goes on about why Ron is a closer/better friend than Hermione and how their personalities work better and stuff. And the other thing is that Ron is so fucking brave (of course he is, he's in Gryffindor for god's sake!), and they've totally ignored that in the films for the sake of comedy, and it makes me so fucking angry because in the books Ron is hilarious without being a pansy! Hi, Ron sacrificed himself in the chess game, and risked expulsion to rescue Harry from the Dursleys, and pushed Harry out of the way when he thought Sirius was going to attack him and got attacked himself! So yeah. I think a huge reason I can never be happy with the films is because that Harry/Ron dynamic isn't there.
The weirdest thing about seeing this movie, though, is that it made me realize how much I don't care anymore. And yes, I just wrote a ton of crap for someone who "doesn't care", but I'm usually such a nazi and I was just so incredibly forgiving of stuff this time. I guess I'm growing out of my Harry Potter phase? I don't know. It's been a huge part of my life for so long, and I think the weirdest, scariest thing is that it feels so natural not to care.
General thoughts:
-- Unexplained OotP flashback! Um, okay? Whatever?
-- So, the Death Eaters are evil and destroy the millennium bridge but miraculously no one dies? What? If you're going to destroy a bridge, commit to that shit and throw some bodies off! Don't be pansies!
-- Slughorn was cool. I have like, no Dumbledore complaints, incredibly, so hopefully Gambon will keep up the good work in DH. I mean, he's still not my Dumbledore, but he didn't throw Harry around or yell at other students, so I'm happy. Damn, I'm getting easy to please!
-- I haven't read the book in two years, but I remember it being kind of a big deal when Harry went to stay with the Weasleys, like, security wise. I'm pretty sure they had to prepare their house with all these security charms, and go to work in special ways and stuff. And in the movie it's so awkward and random because Dumbledore drops Harry off like, a mile away from the house in a freaking pond (seriously, I feel like Dumbledore could aim a little better! Although it did give Harry the opportunity to see Ginny through her window and realize his love for her, so maybe that was Dumbledore's intention all along), and then no one knew he was coming, and Hermione's already there living it up with the Weasleys without him. It's like OotP all over again! Although, I guess that kind of happened in the book too, so fair enough. But still, Dumbledore planning this and then not telling anyone involved? Bizarre!
-- Fred and George always talking in unison is so damn annoying! It's not even that they don't do it in the books, it's just irritating in its own right. If I were the Phelps twins, I'd get pissed off. That said, I just really, really heart the Weasley twins so much, and I still can't look at them and not be sad, even two years later. FRED IS NOT DEAD!
-- Lavender was perfect and hilarious! I found the love subplots really annoying in the book, but I actually enjoyed them in the film. Probably because I never had to hear about Harry's chest monster, plus some of the scenes with Harry and Hermione angsting together (particularly after the Quidditch match) were unintentionally hilarious. Unintentional hilarity makes everything better. "It feels like this." Like what, melodrama, emoness, and awkwardness? Seriously, Harry's facial expression as Hermione clings to his arm is amazing! It's like he doesn't want to be that close to her, but he does want to angst, so he's sort of putting up with it. But he's not happy about it. Also, the scene with Ginny in the Room of Requirement is so awkward! All the scenes with Ginny are awkward. I actually kind of love that.
-- I was right in my suspicions about the Burrow burning down. They totally just did it because they thought it would be cool. I mean, it wasn't a terrible scene and I didn't actively hate it, but it didn't really add anything to the story. It was just sort of in there for the sake of being in there, and look, the Weasleys have suffered enough! Can't we let them keep their damn house? That said, I actually loved Harry tearing off after Bellatrix
-- There was a severe lack of Neville and Luna, but I like to think they are just saving up all their AWESOME for the last installment. Except it did actually piss me off that Neville didn't get into the Slug Club because YES HE DID, YES HE DID! DON'T DOWNPLAY NEVILLE'S POWER OF AWESOME! (Only now that I just wrote that, I'm sort of second guessing myself. Maybe he didn't get in? Crap!)
-- Tom Felton, as ever, is the best young actor of the lot, so props to him. Um, I don't really know what to say about the way they handled the whole Vanishing Cabinet thing. I mean, it's a film, so you can't really handle it like a book where you mention it like, twice, and then it's just like, "SURPRISE! THAT CABINET IS CRUCIAL TO THE WHOLE PLOT!" So I get it on a fundamental level, but there's still a part of me that every time Malfoy used the cabinet just kept saying, "Subtlety: YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" Plus, I really don't have a problem with cutting out the battle at Hogwarts, except now the other Death Eaters are just sort of there, which basically makes the whole Vanishing Cabinet thing completely pointless, so yeah. I'm not saying I know what they should have done differently, but I wish they had. Done it differently, I mean.
-- Snape. Alan Rickman never fails to deliver! I have infinite love for that man! And I honestly really, really love the bit where he discovers Harry under the Astronomy Tower before he kills Dumbledore, because that makes Harry feel that much guiltier for not doing anything, while simultaneously making Snape that much more awesome because he was protecting Harry even then. It's just ingenious and gorgeous and I love it.
-- The whole Half-Blood Prince thing was so anticlimactic, but the thing is, that whole subplot isn't even crucial to the series. I guarantee that if it weren't the title of the book (and thus the movie), they would have cut it out, because even in the book the only thing it does is make Harry feel even more betrayed by Snape, and you can really only get that if you're inside his head. So in the film it just ends up being this awkward thing that they have to throw in because it's the title, which is really unfortunate.
-- The last scene is so incredibly bizarre and awkward. Why is Ron sitting over in the corner? Is he in time out or something? Why does Hermione speak for him and why does Harry only address Hermione? Did we miss the part where the poison made Ron deaf and mute? Does he have swine flu so he's quarantined? What is going on? It's not even like, "Oh, they never give Ron enough lines," it's just ... bizarre.
-- I've realized that my biggest issue with all the films really boils down to Dan and Rupert really not having very good onscreen chemistry. Because look, I was into the bromance before that was a word and it became cool. The most important aspect of the books for me, from the very beginning, has always been Harry and Ron's relationship, because it really is an epic bromance, and the films have never gotten that. I mean, Ron is the thing Harry would miss most. Not Hermione. Ron. And in the book that is so natural and organic, and in the film it seems so random and forced. The films are all about how Harry and Hermione are BFFs OMG! and Ron is just sort of there, and Dan has way better chemistry with Emma than he has with Rupert, so I sort of get why they went that way, but NO! There is a whole section in GoF where Harry goes on about why Ron is a closer/better friend than Hermione and how their personalities work better and stuff. And the other thing is that Ron is so fucking brave (of course he is, he's in Gryffindor for god's sake!), and they've totally ignored that in the films for the sake of comedy, and it makes me so fucking angry because in the books Ron is hilarious without being a pansy! Hi, Ron sacrificed himself in the chess game, and risked expulsion to rescue Harry from the Dursleys, and pushed Harry out of the way when he thought Sirius was going to attack him and got attacked himself! So yeah. I think a huge reason I can never be happy with the films is because that Harry/Ron dynamic isn't there.
The weirdest thing about seeing this movie, though, is that it made me realize how much I don't care anymore. And yes, I just wrote a ton of crap for someone who "doesn't care", but I'm usually such a nazi and I was just so incredibly forgiving of stuff this time. I guess I'm growing out of my Harry Potter phase? I don't know. It's been a huge part of my life for so long, and I think the weirdest, scariest thing is that it feels so natural not to care.
