I went to see this latest Harry Potter movie on opening day. I'm going to have to say thumbs-down on this latest movie. I found it confusing, colored tinted in a way that I found distracting and unappealing, not as consistently entertaining nor consistent as earlier Potter movies even though it attempted to explore important themes about growing up and having to make difficult decisions.

What was confusing or inconsistent about it?

It doesn't attempt to explore themes on maturity and facing hard decisions, the kids ARE growing up. Maybe you were bothered by it being dark which makes sense since you seem to prefer sugary, lighter affairs (what was the name of that nanny movie?)

The cinematography was awesome and those two and a half hours flew by. Have you read the books?

quote:

FragileKidA
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Super Bad-Ass Jedi
Posted 15 July 2009 09:12 PM Hide Post
What was confusing or inconsistent about it?

It doesn't attempt to explore themes on maturity and facing hard decisions, the kids ARE growing up. Maybe you were bothered by it being dark which makes sense since you seem to prefer sugary, lighter affairs (what was the name of that nanny movie?)

Actually, I think the majority of people have been mesmerized by its apparent magic which seems to have glossed over in this movie the fact that the most fascinating and perhaps important character in this movie was Malfoy who wasn't addressed as nearly darkly and conflicted as he could have been. Instead for most of the movie, he comes across as a two-dimensional sterotypical bully. The beginning third of the movie was simply a collection of scenes without a singular plotline helping to structure the movie which the plot apparently was aptly provided in the novel itself.

In discussion on another movie website, it was revealed that this Director left out much of the Voldemort story from the novel and thus altering a significant balance of the direct battle between good and evil. The relationship between Harry Potter and Dumbledore also failed to reach a level of father-son intimacy which in its ultimate climax left Dumbledore's final scenes less dramatically and emotionally riveting.

Unfortuately, this movie failed to provide a structure or plotline that could hold the many subplots together. The Wesley sexual scenario was played more comedical relief while Harry Potter's own conflicts seemed to be pushed back while Hermoine's coming of age experiences were placed on an equal footing as Wesley. The movie really didn't address the coming of age issues seriously or dark enough. I've said it before and I'll say it again, most of the less than sixty-minute epsiodes of BUFFY: THE VAMPIRE SLAYER can accomplish the same coming of age performance with better balance and impact than this movie accomplished in nearly two and a half hours on a much bigger budget. Even Snapes himself in this movie seems to be operating on a unrevealed motives which only adds to the confusion. As a result the whole balance of the movie was off as well as the color-tone of the movie which for me distanced me from the film (an orange tint usually reserved for a period film piece or even a memory recollection not for a in present experience). The problem with this movie is that it can't really stand on its own and depends much on the novels to have been read and the other movies to have been seen and the next movie to give this movie its true satisfying ending.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tabuno,

I thought they did a fine job in "The Half Blood Prince" of conveying the messages in the book to the screen in what time they had. Much better than in the muddled mess that preceded this film, "The Order of the Phoenix". Folks I know who haven't read the novels have found the new movie easier to follow than some of the previous entries in the series. My only complaint is not enough screen time for minor characters, especially Luna.

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crazed
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Super Bad-Ass Jedi
Posted 10 August 2009 11:12 AM Hide Post
I thought they did a fine job in "The Half Blood Prince" of conveying the messages in the book to the screen in what time they had. Much better than in the muddled mess that preceded this film, "The Order of the Phoenix". Folks I know who haven't read the novels have found the new movie easier to follow than some of the previous entries in the series. My only complaint is not enough screen time for minor characters, especially Luna.

I didn't read the book and I found the movie confusing and hard to follow, especially as there were backstories from previous movies that some of the stories in this movie depended on for continuity. This particular Potter movie really can't stand on its own to relay an intelligible complete storyline, from the beginning scene to the ending mostly least exciting ending of the Potter movies, unless one counts Dumbledore's ultimate disposition which in some ways wasn't allowed to have its greatest emotional impact due to how the relationship between Dumbledore and Potter was developed during this movie.