The sixth Potter film trades mystery for comedy and eliminates crucial lore for teenage romance, making it the weakest and most baffling adaptation in the series.
Excellent write up on this film. I remember I re-visited Half Blood Prince last year, and immediately what jumped out was how much focus there was on the romance components. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but I found it to be poorly constructed and executed. The chemistry was off between the actors, there wasn't much scene wise to build the chemistry, and all of it felt ham fistedly hollow. I think I described it as "a drama on the CW, but without the intrigue". That component definitely took me out of this Harry Potter film
It’s funny you described it as a CW drama, because I thought it was like a British sitcom! But everything you said is spot on. What’s more infuriating is that the film runs for 150 minutes, and yet dwells on all the minor stuff. When Snape reveals that he’s the Half-Blood Prince, I remember thinking: And? That’s the biggest sign that it was a failure as an adaptation. I still enjoy the cinematography, though— makes you wish half the blockbusters being made today were half as good-looking as this one.
That’s awesome that we thought so similarly on that portion of the film. I agree with you about the cinematography. It was crisp and mesmerizing. I just wish the rest of the film followed suit in that regard!
Excellent write up on this film. I remember I re-visited Half Blood Prince last year, and immediately what jumped out was how much focus there was on the romance components. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but I found it to be poorly constructed and executed. The chemistry was off between the actors, there wasn't much scene wise to build the chemistry, and all of it felt ham fistedly hollow. I think I described it as "a drama on the CW, but without the intrigue". That component definitely took me out of this Harry Potter film
It’s funny you described it as a CW drama, because I thought it was like a British sitcom! But everything you said is spot on. What’s more infuriating is that the film runs for 150 minutes, and yet dwells on all the minor stuff. When Snape reveals that he’s the Half-Blood Prince, I remember thinking: And? That’s the biggest sign that it was a failure as an adaptation. I still enjoy the cinematography, though— makes you wish half the blockbusters being made today were half as good-looking as this one.
That’s awesome that we thought so similarly on that portion of the film. I agree with you about the cinematography. It was crisp and mesmerizing. I just wish the rest of the film followed suit in that regard!