Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince flat out sucks! It has very little redeeming factors to it, its too long and its boring. I will never understand how the filmmakers turned what was actually an okay book into a film this boring. I read the Half-Blood Prince book, and I actually liked it. I liked the dark turn the books had taken (before f*****g it up with the Deathly Hallows), and the death of Dumbledore was actually dramatic and actually elicited an emotional response from me. It wasn't a great book, I felt that the plot delved a bit too deep into the relationships amongst the characters (or was that the Order of the Phoenix? Either way it slowed things down), and I also didn't really find the book that exciting until the ending, that is where things got good. The movie, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Things did not get good towards the end, if anything, it got worse! The Half-Blood Prince is what happens when a book that had so much background to it that when turned into a film, the filmmakers need to keep things moving while still telling a good story and have it exciting. This movie didn't do that at all. It was boring, from beginning to end, nothing but boring, dreadfully slow scenes that nearly put me to sleep. Not only that, but the many scenes regarding the relationships were so bad that I didn't feel that the characters didn't actually like each other, the only reason they do is because the plot requires them too. For example: Ginny Weasley is supposedly going to be Harry Potter's girlfriend, but her character is so bland and the actress didn't really do a good enough job to make it look like she actually did like Harry. She stares at him with an uninterested look in her eyes, one that says to me, "Why does the script require me to fall for this guy?" Its painful to watch, and only serves to kill 5 minutes.
The rest of the cast is hit-or-miss. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, as always, is brilliant. He is the one cool character and I don't think it is because he is well written. It's because it's Alan Rickman! He is always fun to watch on screen! Whether it is Galaxy Quest, or...any of the other Harry Potter films, Alan Rickman always does a great job. However the rest of the cast is nothing spectacular. I already mentioned how bland Ginny Weasley is so I won't talk about her again, but everyone in this movie just doesn't work. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange is so over the top that she comes off as hilarious! I know she is meant to be psychotic and all that good stuff, but...look at her! Her character isn't subtle at all! She cackles and laughs manically whenever she is on screen and I found her more annoying and funny rather than frightening. The cast of this movie may have good actors/actresses lined up, but it's ultimately the characters that fall flat. They either are completely useless, or so obviously evil that whenever someone thinks they are not one of the death eaters I feel like shaking them relentlessly shouting, "HELLO! HOW STUPID ARE YOU!? Look at this guy! He has no nose, no hair, no visible human traits aside from the fact he looks somewhat human!" In case you didn't know, I was talking about the evil lord snake-face, I mean, Voldemort.
Onto the plot, and trust me, this is where I REALLY started to loathe this film. It does so much yet succeeds at doing nothing at all. I watched this movie in a trance, trying to remember what happened and why. After some time I eventually just gave up, mainly because when I asked myself, "Why," I realized that there was no reason why. Nothing happens in this movie! It was so boring that I almost couldn't believe it. What are they doing now? Oh, absolutely nothing. What now? Oh, they are trying to find this item for reasons I forgot about and didn't really care about in the first place. Why is this drink that Dumbledore is drinking making him progressively weaker? Why are there zombie-like creatures rising up from the water? What is going on? What are those things, why should I care? The answer to the last question is I shouldn't. Only hardcore Potter fans will truly know what is going on, the rest of us is left confused, or was that just me? What's going on now? Oh, the death eaters have invaded Hogwarts, oh no! That should be dramatic, but it really isn't. What just happened, oh wait, Draco Malfoy couldn't grow a pair and kill Dumbledore, he just stood there crying like a little b**** until the only cool character had to do the deed himself. This was the worst insult of all, Dumbledoofus' death wasn't dramatic, period. It happened, was incredibly boring, and went, and that was it.
This is a movie that I just love to hate. I take great joy in ripping this movie to shreds because I feel that I must have revenge. Revenge against having a series of once okay books turned into movies that started off well, then turned to c***. It pains me to see a franchise that I actually once liked (contrary to my review of the Deathly Hallows Part 1 movie) be turned into this. The problem is that while I did like the franchise initially, it's the awful conclusion and the awful recent movies that turned me against Harry Potter. I wanted to like this movie, I really did, but, sadly, the movie failed. Harry Potter, I hate to say this, but you failed!
The rest of the cast is hit-or-miss. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, as always, is brilliant. He is the one cool character and I don't think it is because he is well written. It's because it's Alan Rickman! He is always fun to watch on screen! Whether it is Galaxy Quest, or...any of the other Harry Potter films, Alan Rickman always does a great job. However the rest of the cast is nothing spectacular. I already mentioned how bland Ginny Weasley is so I won't talk about her again, but everyone in this movie just doesn't work. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange is so over the top that she comes off as hilarious! I know she is meant to be psychotic and all that good stuff, but...look at her! Her character isn't subtle at all! She cackles and laughs manically whenever she is on screen and I found her more annoying and funny rather than frightening. The cast of this movie may have good actors/actresses lined up, but it's ultimately the characters that fall flat. They either are completely useless, or so obviously evil that whenever someone thinks they are not one of the death eaters I feel like shaking them relentlessly shouting, "HELLO! HOW STUPID ARE YOU!? Look at this guy! He has no nose, no hair, no visible human traits aside from the fact he looks somewhat human!" In case you didn't know, I was talking about the evil lord snake-face, I mean, Voldemort.
Onto the plot, and trust me, this is where I REALLY started to loathe this film. It does so much yet succeeds at doing nothing at all. I watched this movie in a trance, trying to remember what happened and why. After some time I eventually just gave up, mainly because when I asked myself, "Why," I realized that there was no reason why. Nothing happens in this movie! It was so boring that I almost couldn't believe it. What are they doing now? Oh, absolutely nothing. What now? Oh, they are trying to find this item for reasons I forgot about and didn't really care about in the first place. Why is this drink that Dumbledore is drinking making him progressively weaker? Why are there zombie-like creatures rising up from the water? What is going on? What are those things, why should I care? The answer to the last question is I shouldn't. Only hardcore Potter fans will truly know what is going on, the rest of us is left confused, or was that just me? What's going on now? Oh, the death eaters have invaded Hogwarts, oh no! That should be dramatic, but it really isn't. What just happened, oh wait, Draco Malfoy couldn't grow a pair and kill Dumbledore, he just stood there crying like a little b**** until the only cool character had to do the deed himself. This was the worst insult of all, Dumbledoofus' death wasn't dramatic, period. It happened, was incredibly boring, and went, and that was it.
This is a movie that I just love to hate. I take great joy in ripping this movie to shreds because I feel that I must have revenge. Revenge against having a series of once okay books turned into movies that started off well, then turned to c***. It pains me to see a franchise that I actually once liked (contrary to my review of the Deathly Hallows Part 1 movie) be turned into this. The problem is that while I did like the franchise initially, it's the awful conclusion and the awful recent movies that turned me against Harry Potter. I wanted to like this movie, I really did, but, sadly, the movie failed. Harry Potter, I hate to say this, but you failed!