Mga Sumasampalataya

Jul 17, 2009

FILM REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

The long weekend is finally upon me. After today's shift, I have a 5-day break to cover for my not being able to file another leave during the next couple of months that I'll be training for our new business unit, which I'll be joining next month. This is not in any way related to the movie, and I'm too tired to erase all of the words I've already typed so just bear with me with this paragraph. I just wanted to say that I have a 5-day weekend. Alone at home. Without my parents. And without annoying neighbors to monitor everything I'm doing (cue horns and devilish grin).

Alright, enough about that. I'm writing this post assuming that since all of you are reading my blog, that you've already read the book... so spoilers abound. So if you haven't and don't want to know what happens in the movie. Just scroll down and read my previous posts. Don't click on the X button.

EDIT: I just reread the review and realized that I didn't spoil anything major that happened in the film. So it's kinda safe to read it... but if you don't want to risk anything just scroll to my other previous posts.



You're still reading this so I guess that means you want to be spoiled. Let's get it on.

I'll start with this: Among all of the Harry Potter books, The Half-Blood Prince is one of my least favorite books in the series. And it doesn't help that it references events that happened from my least favorite book of the series: The Chamber of Secrets. But having said that, I still find the movie really good.

It's been over a year since I last read the book, so I'm not really sure how faithful this adaptation is. But in any case I do remember having read most if not all of the things that happened in the movie. Clocking at two and a half hours, this movie is really long, and despite the length you'd find that it isn't action heavy unlike the last two films. I've heard some of the people who saw the film yesterday say that it's kinda boring. But one thing that's very noticeable about this flick is that it's visually stunning.

So, the kids are now grown up. Problems arise because of their lovelife and not because of kid stuff like ogres in the girl's bathrooms, werewolves for teachers or triwizard tournaments. Harry, Ron and Hermione are back at Hogwarts on history's darkest days. Voldemort's confirmed to be alive and the Death Eaters are bringing chaos all over the muggle and magic communities. Dumbledore's tasked Harry to find out the secret to defeating Voldemort by watching people's memories of the young Tom Riddle. While love is in the air for alot of the main characters of the series.

Just like the book, the film's not really action-oriented. Fight scenes are few and far between. That's basically the reason people tend to say that it's boring. I think there's a total of three fight scenes in this movie and not one of them lasted longer than five minutes. But if you're into cinematography and artsy fartsy stuff, you'd appreciate this movie. I love the shots in the cornfield fight scenes, the island fight scenes. And this is the movie where I realized that Hogwarts really IS a beautiful place. The movie is really visually stunning. To be fair, not once did I look at my watch during the entirety of the film (unlike the Transformers running scene which lasted about 45 minutes... I think... I still love T2:ROTF)

Prior to watching the movie, I saw all five of the previous films so it's nice to see how everyone grew up and improved over the course of the six films. Eight years and six films Rowling's series still makes me believe in MAGIC.

In any case, now I'm really looking forward to seeing the last two films based on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.


RATING: 8.5 out of 10 stars

29 comments:

Chyng said...

Di ko binasa, di dahil papanoorin ko din yan- pero dahil im just not interested at all sa HP series! ;)

gillboard said...

ok lang yan.. di ka naman nag-iisa... ngalang.. you miss half of your life!!! MGF...

Boris said...

Like I said in my review, I think it's better to read the books.

Oh yeah, the cornfield fighting scenes was nice XD

see? i was so bored that I forgot about that XD

The Gasoline Dude™ said...

Hindi ko binasa. Tiningnan ko lang rating mo. LOL

The Scud said...

visual treat nga ang hp6. iba ang palette (tama ba?) na ginamit for the movie. i think cuaron started that harry potter look in prisoner of azkaban. limot ko na. tagal na kasi.

at inggit ako sa 5-day long weekend mo. mag cinemalaya ka na!

Badong said...

sa laht ng books eto yung pinaka-konti yung twist at pinaka-simple yung plot. siguro dahil ni-reserve lahat ni rowling yun para sa book 7. pero di hamak na mas gusto ko tong movie version nito kesa sa book 5.

gillboard said...

boris: HP6 is not for everyone.. okay lang yan...

gas dude: ayos lang... kung nabasa mo libro, alam mo na yung kwento.. hehehe

gillboard said...

the scud: agree ako... actually hanggang ngayon, favorite ko pa rin ang Prisoner of Azkaban na movie over the other 5 Harry Potter films.

badong: yup... this is a set-up para sa Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

Jepoy said...

My fave of all HP series is this one :-D... marami talagang salitaan sa book na ito lalo na sa part ng Dumbledore-Harry-Pensieve-Moments.

EngrMoks said...

Book muna tol..niyaya na nga ako ni isis manood nyan kaso talagang nagpupumilit akong "HINDI!!!" libro muna ko tol...

gillboard said...

jepoy: true... kaya lang kasi alang nangyari dun sa movie libro until the end kaya di ko siya masyado gusto.

moks: ok lang... nakakahook naman mga libro nyan... ako isang buong araw na basahan lang sakin ang HP... kahit anong title.. hehehe

RJ said...

tama ka, dun sa mga hindi interesado, they miss half of the lives. hahaha! mas maganda talaga kapag sa book. kumpleto ang details. parang sa davinci code at angels and demons lang din.

Kosa said...

may ibang pinaghahandaan yung author dyan.. siguro sa huling episode nya ibubuhos lahat..hehe

gillboard said...

ardyey: agree... lalo na sa Angels & Demons at Da Vinci Code... di ko lam kung paano naging boring yung pelikula eh sobrang exciting yung book.

kosa: yup... kung faithful yung adaptation ng huling movie... sobra ganda nun... parang Lord of the Rings ang pagka epic!!! slight...

Yodi Insigne said...

thanks for the review.
We are scheduled to watch it tonight. Hope i'll enjoy it.
I'm a Dumbledore fan, he he
This time I will watch the movie first before reading the book.

Wingardium Leviosa!!

HOMER said...

Im not a fan. But watched it na din dahil sa loves ko haha!!

But I enjoyed it naman. Siguro for a person who's not a fan maapreciate naman.. :D

Raft3r said...

hehe
pareho kayo ni scud ng post, ah
pero sige
ibahin ko ang comment ko dito
baka magalit si scud
nyahaha
i will probably watch this on dvd
like the rest of the franchise
wala time, eh
saka di magagalit ang warner
orig tayo saka 1st day of release ang bili kaya di sale
sulit na siguro sila don, ano
nyahaha

btw, your link is up
sa wakas
salamat uli!

ENS said...

ako, medyo nadisappoint ako, kasi tama ka, kunti at ang bilis nung mga action scenes, pero sa tingin ko, sa mga movies na series, di naman importante kung maganda o hindi kasi kailangan talaga siyang panuorin kasi napanuod mo yung iba... lalo na kung di ka nagbabasa ng buk(gaya ko)

gillboard said...

yodz: hopefully you enjoyed the movie.. let us know.

homer: it's a really good film... no doubt about that... it just isn't as action packed unlike alot of the previous films... that's probably the complaint alot of casual moviegoers have.

gillboard said...

raft3r: ako din bibili ng dvd... to complete the collection..

ens: yup... sarap tingnan kung paanoo lumaki lahat ng cast.. hehe

Unknown said...

waaa.hindi ko pa siya binasa.
hindi ko pa napapanuod.
mamaya ko pa papanuorin!
haha. :]]

pusangkalye said...

"But having said that, I still find the movie really good."

----there---I stopped here in this part.Upon seeing the word "good'---that's okay. Im okay. I will still be looking forward to watching this movie then---

ACRYLIQUE said...

Di ko binasa. SPOILER eh. :)

MkSurf8 said...

surprisingly di ako nakatulog dito. and yes inihanda lang ni JK tayo para sa next.

kumbaga love story ang kanyang pang-bakbakan break. ;-)

ACRYLIQUE said...

Bus nga yung nasa first two pics. :)

ACRYLIQUE said...

Haha. Salamat sa pagbati. :)

brag said...

I love the cornfield scene too, and the movie overall.

cedeux said...

as a HP fanatic myself, i think book 6 is a filler. sama ko no? pero tama ka, the book itself is not action packed comapred to the other books.

unlike other HP fanatics though, i liked the film. despite na may kulang. pero nagandahan tlaga ko. acting wise is ok too. at tama ka. how i wish mala hogwarts ang school ko ngayon. hehe

the first movie is the main reason why i liked the whole series and books. polished din naman ung pagkakagwa ng movie. lalo na sa cinematography.

naisip ko lang, kaya siguro nagbawas ng details sa movie is for us to enjoy what's written in the book. para maencourage tayo magbasa.

ingats GB!

7a'faR said...

Harry Potter!
the best film ever I saw...




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