Escape to the Movies: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

[Oldmanwillow]

What was with all the Ron Paul and Ayn Rand Bashing. I can understand if you dont like them but why bash them in a harry potter review?

Can I take from this that you're okay with making fun of Robert Heinlein, though?

In all seriousness, I'm a libertarian ("small-l,") I appreciate what Paul was trying to stand for and I'm quite fond of both Ayn Rand and Objectivism. There's a well-worn copy of Atlas Shrugged in my general eyesight right now, in fact. That doesn't mean I won't poke some fun at either of them from time to time, especially recognizing how left-field that particular block of references was.

As to substance... Look, like I said, I LIKE Paul but it must be said: He's a little on the "crazy old man" side. NOT because of what he believes, but the manner in which he approaches it. He's not doing a great job as a spokesperson for his own movement, and his lack of media saavy (not realizing that failing to dissasociate his campaign from various neo-fascist sects trying to jump on his wagon, not having a single person on staff who knew who Sacha Baron Cohen was, etc) is proof of that he's in the unfortunate position of being the elder-spokesman of a philosophy thats re-emerged with a young audience but hasn't yet generated a generationally-appropriate standard bearer.

As to Ayn Rand... I won't lie, I at least partially wanted to stir up some traffic and poking the Objectivist beehive is usually a good way to do that. So far, mission accomplished

Thank you for replying. The only reason why i said something at all is because so many people base do not understand objectivism and base their accusations off of their ignorance of it. Its very clear to me that you have a perfect understand of objectivism, so thank you.

 

[Oldmanwillow]

You simply cannot compare Magneto and Rand. Magneto uses force to try to get his way with OTHER PEOPLE PROPERTY which is something you cannot do in objectiveism. Rands view of selfishness is you can only be selfish when dealing with YOUR OWN PROPERTY.

I'm not necessarily comparing the two philosophically, it's more the characters and the way they deal with their situation as a member of a paradoxically persecuted superior being. The fact is, "Atlas Shrugged" is not the first (or best) scifi/futurist "negative utopia" story to focus on an elite minority suffering under the jealous tyranny of an "average" majority. Heck, pre-spaceflight this was damn near the most prevalent subgenre of what was not yet called science-fiction (making, as it does, a perfect allegory for the situation of "the nerd" versus "the world.") It's just the most politically-charged and well known today.

The main thing is that these stories only go one of two ways: Either the "superhuman/superior minority" is a kind of benevolent protector (see: the military and/or militarized government in much of Heinlein's work) or there is a conflict between them and the "normal" world. "Atlas" belongs more or less to the second type, even if there's no declaration of war. And, frankly, even though John Galt is non-violent himself, his movement is quite action-oriented: Even setting aside that he essentially condones Ragnar Djanneskold's piracy campaign, he and the other "strikers" are quite aware that the end-result of their manuevers will be a far-reaching societal collapse. And regardless of what Rand the philosopher has to say about violence, Rand the AUTHOR has an obvious blast describing the chaotic ends that come to the "bad guys" of the story.

True and i concede to this argument Rand the author loved violence. (Yet again thats why i like her non fiction so much more than her fiction)

 

[Cortheya]

Hrm, most people I know hated it.

The main problem I've heard, is that the death eaters have been turned from a menacing and deadly force to what are essentially vandals. Attack hogwarts en-masse? To do what? break glass and start fires. Attack the human world to do what? Break glass and start fires. whuppity flipping doo. I especially like how the huge bridge jam packed with people was somehow cleared in 5 seconds flat before it fall.

I've also heard that the pacing's very fucked up. And they used absolutely ludacris logic to explain plot holes in the places where they differed from the books.

it got toned down to a PG rating is the reason why they're not a real threat in that movie. That bothered me about that movie.

 

[jebbo]

Attempting to avoid as many spoilers as I can, the bit towards the end. Four or five high-power evil wizard break into Hogwarts and kill (someone important). Hmmm... What should we do now. Should we, perhaps, slaughter the population of the school thereby depriving the good guys of their main body of recruits and take possession of what looked to be their only defended facility? NO, let go down the the great hall, break some windows, laugh evilly and walk out. And yet everytime Dumbledore gets Harry to do his dirty work he goes to great lengths to emphasise their terrible situation and how everyones lives depend on it. Well unless everyone is really clumsy and fatally slip on broken glass there didn't seem to be a whole lot to worry about.

I could go on. Don't get me started. You were warned

Grand Admiral

Yes the movie comes across like this but that's more down to the rating PG/12A whatever the hell it is nowadays.
If you read the book there's actually a massive fight in the castle at the end, not just the running away.. plus all sorts of references throughout to the Death Eaters kidnapping important people, killing off powerful wizards who could cause trouble (quite a lot of death actually, especially in the book7) enlisting werewolves and the undead to fight on behalf of Voldemort. It's actually pretty dark, something the film totally glossed over

 

[DarthHK]

I don't know what to think of this one. Frankly I feel like I'm getting mixed signals. He points out how most of the movie is dreadful teenage romance yet ends that he actually likes it?
Oi... too bad the Harry Potter fanboy in me died by the time my age hit double digits.

 

[Gaderael]

Fiance and I just got back from seeing this. I really enjoyed. It was dark, but a quite a few funny bits interlaced. I think it was the best one so far.

My favorite part:

Spoiler: Spoiler. Seriously, don't look if you have yet to see the movie or read the book

The part where Gandalf Dumbledore fights the army of Gollums weird undead-water things in the cave. Seriously, that fire spell was bad ass!

 

[Aptspire]

Ending made me go: "WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??????????"
You know...same ol', same ol'
(just came back)

 

[13lackfriday]

Haha, I know what you mean about the "middle" parts, but they were also a chance for some welcome comic relief from the interactions between the trio, and Ron, who literally saved one awkward scene between Harry and Ginny.

SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE!

In a rather anticlimactic way, I assume.

Watch it.
You'll see how painfully correct you are.

 

[Anaphyis]

2. Nextly, I almost liked this review, it could have been good but you left a sour taste in my mouth with the entire Goth reference and stereotyping. I don't personally believe in witchcraft or anything, but I have a roomate who practices Wicka (sp?) as a religion and literlly almost tore the house down and ripped stuff up when she heard that come off my computer. I think you'd be a little better off in your reviews to let's say, not sterotype or do something that could generally insult a population. Keep it clean, friendly, and fun ... it's when your reviews end up good ... que UP.

Then pull her stick out of her ass, seriously. As someone even vaguely familliar with the Potter verse Bob should know that witches are simply female wizards, hence "wizardry and witchcraft." He simply made a joke by comparing witches in the Potter verse to the stereotype, thus actually attacking this stereotype through this.

And someone with such a thin skin to get mental after hearing such a innocent joke should try out another religion. Wiccans really should know better, considering their belief system is founded around concepts ridiculed and smeared by other religions for thousands of years and in popular media generally conotated by the common witch archetype, i.e. ugly hags flying on broomsticks and eating children.

 

[WolfmanNougat]

SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE!

In a rather anticlimactic way, I assume.

Watch it.
You'll see how painfully correct you are.

Oh dear. This worries me, considering Sirius' death in OotP was rather lax, too.
Still, I wonder how Michael Gambon feels about the whole affair... happy to be done with it, maybe?

 

[ReverseEngineered]

I haven't seen this movie yet, but I was looking forward to seeing it. Unfortunately, the reviews I've heard lately are making wonder if I shouldn't wait until it comes out for rent.

I didn't read the Harry Potter books as a kid (since I was just a bit old for them at the time), but I recently watched all 5 movies and was generally impressed. Interesting story, lots of cool magic at the center of the plotlines, lots of deep characters, and the feeling that the plot is only just beginning (what with Voldemort and Harry both just starting to gain power).

But the last couple of movies seemed to drop off. There seemed to be a lot of moments filled with exposition, when any sane character would have been blasting off with their wand. It started getting this drawn-out feeling, like they were trying to build up suspense through drama rather than action, when in reality the acting wasn't living up to the drama.

If what Bob and others are saying about the love interest is true, then I doubt I'll like this movie. Teenage romance is always awkward -- Hollywood's interpretation of it terribly so -- and I've never been one for awkward moments. The tension in the trio's relationship seemed realistic so far, even if Goblet of Fire went way too far with the "we have to find a date for the dance" trope. It's a good thing to have as a side show -- it keeps the characters interesting and realistic -- but making it the main focus of the movie turns it into a teenage chick flick. Do we really need another one of those?

Now that I think of it, the later Harry Potter movies seemed like a sitcom: each episode had a major theme, which had little to do with the characters or the overarching plot. The first few were ripe with followers of Voldemort trying to kill Harry and bring the Dark One back to life. The kids' position in the story is always to try and unfold the conspiracy and prevent the enemy from succeeding. So why do we suddenly care about a big quidditch tournament and a competition of wizard skill? The bad guy sneaking Harry's name into the cup seems like a rather weak attempt to tie the competition into the overarching plot. It's almost as if they've forgotten about the overall story -- now that they have an established setting, they just start throughing episode-sized problems at it.

And now, just as Voldemort is becoming strong enough to take over the world, the biggest problem the trio has to overcome is their collective libido? Seriously, this isn't just a sitcom -- it's Degrassi High. Get back to the story and stop wasting your time dealing with the little, awkward details.

 

[bickster]

2. Nextly, I almost liked this review, it could have been good but you left a sour taste in my mouth with the entire Goth reference and stereotyping. I don't personally believe in witchcraft or anything, but I have a roomate who practices Wicka (sp?) as a religion and literlly almost tore the house down and ripped stuff up when she heard that come off my computer. I think you'd be a little better off in your reviews to let's say, not sterotype or do something that could generally insult a population. Keep it clean, friendly, and fun ... it's when your reviews end up good ... que UP.

Then pull her stick out of her ass, seriously. As someone even vaguely familliar with the Potter verse Bob should know that witches are simply female wizards, hence "wizardry and witchcraft." He simply made a joke by comparing witches in the Potter verse to the stereotype, thus actually attacking this stereotype through this.

And someone with such a thin skin to get mental after hearing such a innocent joke should try out another religion. Wiccans really should know better, considering their belief system is founded around concepts ridiculed and smeared by other religions for thousands of years and in popular media generally conotated by the common witch archetype, i.e. ugly hags flying on broomsticks and eating children.

I am in noway arguing that fact at all. I was expressing an opinion that I felt it took away from the review as a review a little bit. I just feel as though if I wanted puns of that sort then I would go to see a comedian or the like. That and I also know some young children do watch it and it really doesn't set a positive influence. I don't care about swearing and the like, they'll learn that ...as will they stereotyping I am sure, but a lot of young minds and fickle minds for that matter can be addicted and or influenced by stuff like this that they see. I was just expressing a point of view and some constructive advice, it is no reason to get offensive, or go off the handle in anyway or attack on someone you don't even know. That is childish.

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

*(WARNING - SPOILERS)*
I found that the movie wasn't great but it was watchable. I did enjoy the various scenes but based on the fact that the ending scene did remind me of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with the characters looking into the distance wondering what comes next after knowing how to destroy their enemy with the loss of their greatest of adult help and having to rely on themselves because it was always S. Black and Dumbledore that saved them and the only adult left is the Darth Vader of the film (Snape) while Voldemort (Palpatine) lies in wait till the final battle which can only have its battle scenes either similar in which Potter (Luke) fights Snape then has Voldemort killing Potter till Snape saves the day and dies because of the bond he broke or Potter and Voldemort have an epic battle after fighting with and/or killing Snape. It might not even be Potter who kills Snape. It could be Ron (Han) or Hermoine (uh....Leah?)because even with all the backup these three get its always and has been up to Potter, Weasley, and Grainger to deal with whatever dark forces they need to defeat to save the world.

My thoughts on the film and it's possible future are based on the fact that I've never and shall never read the books. The only books I've ever read were ones issued to me while I was in Elementary School, Watchmen, and The Spirit.

 

[ThatJagoGuy]

This is the first review I've seen from Movie Bob... and, well, frankly I thought it was pretty crappy. At one point I actually had to look away from the screen because the various images blurring in and out and pixelating all over the shop was making me feel ill. Also, the sound was awful!

It's a shame really, because it seems like he might actually have something worth saying - but the terrible execution of the video distracts from that.

As for the ole HP - I reckon he has it spot on when he says that everyone largely has their opinions set in stone. I won't be going out of my way, but I'll check 'em out if they're on telly at xmas.

 

[Jallis370]

Why is this cheap Yahtzee copy still flying around here?

Sound is bad, pictures are not properly synked, I see big squares in the graphix all the time, his method is allmost identical with another one on this site and he doesn't do a good job of copying it either.

 

[EchetusXe]

A good review for a good movie Bob.

Conclusion: LESS romantic subplots and MORE hot ass goth chicks.

Hell I think if I was a wizard I would probably join Voldemort just for the chance of tapping that evil witch ass. I mean damn!

Oh yeah and the ending was a bit odd, bit different from the book for reasons that seem good on paper (by some measure of irony) but just don't work on film. I hadn't read the book so I didn't know what was going to happen. It was just kinda 'so he?', 'why is?', 'huh? ok right', 'well... hmm' for a minute rather than 'OMG no wai?!'

 

[jabrwock]

Bob, you really need to get some editing assistance. The onscreen comments/images are either out of sync with the audio which refers to them, or pop up and disappear way to fast to be able to read them.

But, other than that, an interesting review. I may actually have to pick up a copy of Atlas Shrugged, just to say I know WTF people are talking about. I seem to be running into references to it more and more often...

I didn't really see what "spoilers" everyone was talking about. I didn't see anything in the review that wasn't already "spoiled" by the official plot synopsis/trailers. If you are a fan, you know how the story goes, because you've already read the book. If you don't care, it doesn't matter. And if you're like me, who enjoys the movie when it's put on the TV during the holidays, then a vague "spoiling" of the overall plot doesn't really affect my enjoyment of an afternoon.