Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Review By NateMAN

Jul 15th, 2009 by NateMAN
A solid adaptation that was far better than I expected.
  • OVERALL
    3.5
    GREAT
  • Story
  • Acting
  • Directing
  • Visuals
Ok, guys, i'll keep it short and sweet as always.

So for the past two weeks i've been catching up on all my Harry Potter. I had never read past book 3 so i've been franticly trying to catch up. I was literally rushing through the last chapter of "Half Blood Prince" right before I had to leave for the theater. I was cutting it pretty close on this one.

Anyway, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this one because I absolutely despised "Order of the Phoenix". It was such an atrocious film that I wasn't even sure I ever wanted to watch a new Harry Potter again especially since the director of "Phoenix" (David Yates) was directing this one (and also the 2-part finale) which made me very nervous.

But they got Steve Kolves who wrote the screenplays for Potters 1-4 which made me very happy. (whoever wrote the screenplay for "Order of the Phoenix" should be shot!)

"Half Blood Prince" wound up being one of the best books in the series so I got pretty excited about the movie despite my reservations about how it might turn out, but the film was better than I expected. It was a solid adaptation that got the feel of the book 100% dead on right. The perfect balance of darkness and hilarity. Although I think the very ending of the movie suffered by not being closer to the book, but hey that's just me.

Yates has pretty much redeemed himself after how terrible the last movie was, and i am interested to see how he does with the next two movies.

Overall the movie is magical, exciting, and a hell of a lot of fun, which is exactly what you need out of a Harry Potter movie. Can't wait to see it again!

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Comments (4)

  1. 313td

    Good review,I hope I like it as much as you did.

    4 years agoby @313tdFlag

  2. NateMAN

    yeah spynet i honestly really hated "Order of the Phoenix", mostly because it was very porrly written (also the direction wasn't all that great and the editing was terrible). The thing that really irked me about it was that the movie doesn't explain anything. when I watched i kept asking a million questions. "what weapon is he looking for?" "is it the prophecy?" "how is he going to use that as a weapon?" and the most important question in any movie "what's going to happen if the hero fails?"

    Now if you've read the book you know the answers to all those questions but they didn't even try to put it into the movie. It would have taken 30 seconds out of a 2 and a half hour film to explain these things, but instead it makes no sense and movie becomes just "events" and no "story".

    I also didn't really like "Chamber of Secrets" but at least that movie has a story and plot that flows nicely, and "Order of the Phoenix" did not.

    4 years agoby @natemanFlag

  3. Diaigma

    Nate is just a tough critic, which is needed. Good review, MAN :P

    4 years agoby @diaigmaFlag

  4. spynet315

    Did you really think that the OotP film adaptation was that bad? I admit that it could have been better, but aren't you being overly cruel? Anyway, I liked your review because it was short and sweet, it got to the point, and it was informative without giving anything away. If I weren't already seeing the movie, I would want to after having read your review.

    4 years agoby @spynet315Flag