MediaBox 11: Harry Potter, yeah!
I am not, by strictest definition, a Harry Potter fan. I have read exactly zero Harry Potter books. I own no HP merchandise, so far as I know—I can’t speak for my wife’s possessions. And yet somehow, through the infinite bafflement of trying to be hip to what’s square, I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at 12:01 am today.
For personal reasons, I hereby refuse to use the following words in this review: Magical, wizardry, Muggle, wand. Thanks for understanding.
Also, I hope I don’t need to go into the whole “you can’t judge the movie by the book (and vice versa) because it does them both a disservice you geek” rant. They’re different. Deal.
So, after all of that, I’d like to say that Harry Potter no. whatever is OK. Having pored over the suitably enticing trailers in recent months, I was prepared to be blown away. But I wasn’t.
The story is a great piece of Potter lore, and its twists and surprises—yes, some of us are still being surprised here—make the next movie(s) absolutely mandatory. The special effects are astounding throughout, and the score is possibly the best in the series.
Why is it just OK, then? Less-than-stellar acting, poor pacing, and general convolution hold this one back from greatness. It’s definitely a regression from the genuinely entertaining previous entry, Harry Potter and the Order of the Something-or-Other.
The biggest problem: It doesn’t deliver on its über-epic promises. Every time something awesome happens to sweep me up, it drops me like I’m hot. The big-deal revelations toward the end of the film are rushed and, as a result, quite vapid. I so wanted to have my gut wrenched and my heart broken and—eventually—my spirit lifted. All I got was let down.
And now, the question you’ve been asking yourself: Does Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince get the 1square Seal of Approval? In the interest of setting precedents, I’ll give it one half-seal, which is kinda like a half-pendant of life, though it won’t ward off Temple Guards. See it if you love Potter. Muggles need not apply.
Breaking my own rules,
Tyler
