Walsall Wonderland

The night before last my fiancé and I went out and saw the latest Harry Potter film, the Half-Blood Prince. Here are my reactions to the film.

First off, I loved it! I thought it was thrilling, that the important parts of the storyline were included, that the acting is getting better and better, that the special effects, sound, and cinematography were all great, and that overall, it was a fantastic way to spend two and a half hours. I had expected less, to be honest, mainly because of those out there pooh-poohing the film.

Let me say this, you do not have to have read the book to appreciate the movie. My fiancé has not read past the first book, and he understood and really enjoyed the film. If you have, however, read the books, there are a few extra treats for you. Mainly in-jokes, as with Dumbledore telling Slughorn that the give away to his being being in the room (as an armchair, no less!) was his use of Dragon’s Blood to drip from a puddle through the ceiling. For those of use who’ve read the books, we know that Dumbledore first became famous for being the first person to figure out the twelve uses for Dragon’s Blood. There are other things like that, but that is just one.

I liked that the film used humour and relationship escapades as a means of lightening what was a rather dark book, that they kept the movie palatable by not constantly focusing on the darker aspects of book six. I also thought that Dumbledore’s death (whilst gut-wrenching) was handled very well, and that the wand vigil was a beautiful replacement for Dumbledore’s funeral. I am so glad I didn’t have to see that on film, that I didn’t have to see Hagrid pick up Dumbledore’s broken body and carry it away while he howled with tears. I think that would have been too much to witness, so I thank the film makers for pulling back from the grief, just enough, to still give us a sense of the devastating loss they all felt, but not inflict it on us overly. I was, however, frustrated with the confusing iconography in the end of the movie, when Fawkes was flying off. Because Dumbledore said ‘Trust me, Harry. Trust me’ and because of the use of a bird that symbolises rebirth, the film didn’t make it too clear that Dumbledore was really gone… but that may have been deliberate so it is something they can address in the first part of the seventh movie.

I actually liked that they replaced the attack on Hogwarts with an attack on the Burrow, I think it worked better for film and will leave the attack on Hogwarts in the final movie more shocking, as it was in the book. I don’t think that it would have worked out right, given quite the same feeling, if Hogwarts had been attacked twice on film.

I do, however, find myself vaguely irritated with all the negative reviews of this film. It frustrates me because I think these reviewers in question aren’t being fair. Sure, this isn’t a masterpiece of cinema, but it is a good, solid, film. Sometimes I think people need to take cinema as an experience, not something to academically tear into itty-bitty pieces to stare at under a microscope. Yes, I think that kind of analysis has it’s place, that it is useful, interesting, and meaningful, but I think that a review shouldn’t be based on this, well not unless they clearly state that is their angle, I think a review should be based on whether or not a film was entertaining, and that is something this film most assuredly was!

Today’s knitting pattern has to be something Harry Potterish… Hmmm… Because there was one in the film, and because it was ridiculously cute, today’s pattern will be a Pygmy Puff.