Okay I saw it today and I just want to warn that the folowing posts contains:
talk2hand talk2hand SPOILERS! talk2hand talk2hand
Okay, what I disliked:
-The removal of Snape's line, "DON'T. CALL ME. COWARD!"
-The removal of the Great Hall battle beteen the Deth Eaters and DA/OotP
-Bill not getting mauled
-Fenrir DOING JACK ALL
-Total lack of Rufus Scrimgeor
-The pointless urning dow of the Weasley's house
-OBVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS ARE OBVIOUS, remember the somewhat subtle hints J.K. Rowlng used? They went bye-bye in the first ten minutes
-The lack of TonksxRemus tension (see above)
-Charcterisation after the half way point of the film
-Transitions after the first half of the film
What I loved:
-Professor Slughorn. Utterly brilliant performance by Jim Broadbent (of whom I am a huge fan - Hot Fuzz ftw)
-The not so subtle dig at the Harmony shippers (ie: Dumbledore's pointed question to Harry about Hermione)
-LavenderxRon - so nauseating it was hysterical
-Luna (best casting ever)
-The Felix scene (excellent acting that was genuinely amusing and really made the film for me)
-Excellent portrayal of the Necklace, Poisoned Mead and Horcruz potion scenes, I could not fault them
-Bellatrix (Helena Bonham Carter is my hero and my chosen actress for Chee). Her schizophrenic, pyromaniac tendencies made every scene she was in brilliant. She really had that insane, sleazy, psycho role down
-The characterisation at the beginning of the film (especially HermionexCormac) Cormac McLaggen was hysterical and well written
-The early transitions
-The obvious Snape-fangirl who loudly "woo-ed" at the "I am the Half-Blood Prince" scene
xd I have to say, I really enjoyed this. It's never going to win any awards nor be remembered as a particularly spectacular film in cinematic history, but it was enjoyable and entertaining. I loathed The Order of the Phoenix because of how poorly handled it was and how much they cut. And, while much was cut from Half-Blood Prince (and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone who has not read the books to see it) the film was far better structured and had an actual plotline. While many of the transitions were clunky (ie: going from the burning house, to school, to sudden Pensieve moment) there weren't as many as I thought there would be after reading this thread.
Kid!Voldemort was utterly adorable and I had the perverse urge to just hug the child. I don't know, there was something sinsterly adorable about him. Not overly impressed with the Dumbledore meeting Riddle scene as the acting felt wooden and just overly...blah?
I found, also, Ginny Weasley's acting was atrocious. The most unconvincing performance of the lot, whereas Luna and Lavender brilliantly outshone her.
Slughorn was perfect. His scenes were amusing, bumbling and just perfectly utterly entertaining to watch. The Felix scene was fantastic becuse there was just this chemistry between the three actors that made it work. I could also go on and on about Bellatrix but it would turn into a gibbering, incoherent fangirl ramble. Needless to say, I cannot fault her performance.
The Inferi scene was appropriately terrifying. I never - and I mean never - jump in movies. I may startle a bit, gasp or do the typically girly "I'm looking at the floor nao" moves but I never jump. But when the Inferi came out of the lake I almost ended up on the cinema floor. I wish I was kidding. Damn those zombie-Gollum hybrids scared me.
Dumbledore's death was excellently handled and sad. I'm not a person who cries in movies - I have survived Titanic, Marley and Me etc. etc. - but this got me pretty damn close to the sniffles.
But I really am disappointed with the lack of subtley about the relationships and the easy pairing of Tonks and Remus. I felt like the writers thought we were too supid to pick up on any little hints. At the start ofthe film the hints were good (ie: you have a little toothpaste scene between Ron and Hermione) but after that they really shooved the pairings in your face.
I am also angry that they left out the battle between the Death Eaters and the DA/OotP and Bill's disfigurement. Little things, little characterisations, that mae the book and showed the characters' growth were lacking. But the screenwriters have definitely picked up their game since the last appalling excuse for a film.
Saying all that, I really found it enjoyable. While I won't be going back to the cinema to see it, unlike the OotP, I will be hiring this when it comes out on DVD. Azkaban, though, still stands out as the best film so far for me.
...long post is long and rambly!
