Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [spoilers]

[Alan M.]

So who's seen the newest Harry Potter movie so far?

I went last night, and was decidedly underwhelmed by it. Not that it was bad by any means, but it just seems to me that a book-to-movie adaptation (or at least, a good book-to-movie adaptation) should have me leaving the theater with more than a feeling of "Yep, that's pretty much what happened in the book, alright."

But judging by the reviews (which I've seen the ratings on, but haven't read), I'm pretty much alone in this sense. So...anyone else who's seen it; what do you think?

[Jason Marconnet (Pint sized mod)]

I saw it. I haven't read any of the books and have only seen the other movies once. I didn't have anything better to do so I went with a group of friends who have read the books and seen all of the movies. I liked the movie but didn't think it was as great as the reviews said. It didn't have a lot going on in it and seemed to be a set up for the last film. There were some good moments though. The Harry Potter movies entertain me but never really stick with me. I usually forget the plot by the time the next one comes out. The rest of the people I was with really seemed to like it.

[Rich Lane]

I thought it was rather drawn out and not much happened until the last half hour or so. It also suffered from "Han's frozen in carbonite" syndrome. That is, it really seemed like half a plot.

The kids have grown up nicely over the series. I think the film makers lucked out in that respect. The only one that grew up looking somewhat goofy is Ron, but that fits his character. I do have to say that Hermoinie's pained looks of love looked more like she ate some bad bratwurst than angst.

I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but it really seemed to be the weakest of the films so far.

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

I saw it and I just thought it was pretty much what I expected. Nothing more or less.

[True Believer]

I'm another one who is a casual viewer -every time I go to a HP film, I can't remember what happened in the previous film. I thought this one was incredibly slow and for the most part felt like a series of events with little connection to each other. I suppose if you're a fan of the series, seeing the kids playing Quidditch or having dinner, etc, might be amusing, but for me, it was just boring. And to be honest I've yet to see what qualities about Harry make him "The Chosen One" - but I may be missing something that's been stated before.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I have some Potter-fan friends who saw it and didn't care for it -- one really disliked it, the other just didn't think it was up to the standards of the other ones.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Today is Daniel Radcliffe's birthday. He's 20!

[Ana Canino-Fluit (Anacoqui- mod)]

We went to watch it last night. I mostly liked it. I really liked Tom Felton's performance as Draco. He was great...skulking about, all alienated and isolated. I think it is by far his best performance of the films so far.

I also loved a lot of the individual scenes, Ron's under the love spell, Harry happy-go-lucky encounter with Slughorn, Slughorn, pretty much in any scene he was in, for example, but I do think it was draggy.

Although I love Alan Rickman, and the character of Snape, I was very happy they essentially dropped the whole "who is the half-blood prince" storyline for the movie, the movie already had too much plot...

I although thought it was wise for them to drop most of the "people going missing from the ministry of magic".

And also I liked the revised ending (no large state funeral for dumbledore)...

HBP was a flawed book, the movie was alright, not fantastic, but alright. I think over all they made more good choices than bad ones.

[Chris Fluit]

I was also underwhelmed. The fifth movie was the best in the franchise (so far) making this one a bit of a letdown. I do think that some of the flaws were inherited from the book (which dragged on even longer than the movie). I think they did a credible job of merging the multiple story lines so that the ending fit a little better. For example, they did a great job of showing Draco skulking about on balconies and behind hallways while the other characters were involved in their romantic plots so that even when you were enjoying the romantic by-play, you knew that something dark was waiting in the wings. However, the death didn't mean quite as much- mostly because I already knew about it from the book. The individual scenes were great (as Ana mentioned) but the movie didn't always fit together as a whole. But then again, I thought that was a problem with the book, too.