July 15

Here it is: my (hopefully spoiler-free) review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (AKA Harry Potter 6).

First, a little bit of context - I re-read books One through Six, finishing just over a week ago. There is a LOT of stuff in those books! Details, and subplots, and teenage trauma, oh my! Then I took a few more days and re-watched the first five movies. Remember how terrible the first one was, even though we all saw it and loved it? Remember how the second had better special effects, even though the acting was still both overwrought and wooden, and in sticking so closely to the book it actually verged on boring? Remember how the third brought us both Gary Oldman and an artistic sensibility (partnered with a ruthless editor), leaving behind a movie many still regard as their favorite from the series? Remember how the fourth gave us the guy from Twilight and a flat-nosed villian, plus a truly scary/creepy tone and conclusion? Remember how the fifth saved us from watching the dire teenage angst we feared from the book by making a few neat changes to tidy up, giving Harry Something Productive To Do (which was also fabulously directed), and then broke our hearts (even though we knew it was coming) by simply and starkly killing off Gary Oldman/Sirius Black? Remember how the sixth somehow managed to be funny and grown up and visually subtle, exciting, AND beautiful? Well, you will. As soon as you see it. (Also, I should probably add that I attended the 12:20 showing of the movie, after a day spent out in the sun at an amusement park. I did have chocolate, so I was fully alert and, I believe, completely unbiased. Well, maybe a little biased. But I did have chocolate.)

In my opinion, #6 is the best MOVIE of the series. Within the first 15 minutes I had turned to my friend and said, "I really REALLY like this new director." Inside the next 20 I was completely enthralled by the changes in the art direction. (Narcissa Malfoy's black-and-white hair, versus the flat blonde in the books, is GENIUS. And I really need her coat to come live in my closet.) I'm no expert on movie making, but I thought the camera angles, shifts, pacing, and special effects were all very well done. And at some point, the Harry Potter kids figured out they could actually act, and responded accordingly. Who knew?

That said, in many ways it probably deviates the most from its source material - there are some elements from the book that fans will probably consider extremely important that are totally changed or cut altogether from the movie. (I am fairly annoyed about one of those cuts myself - I can concede that it may not have been all that vital to the franchise as a whole, but it's pretty darn close and this new director - love him! - had better take care of justifying things in the last two movies.) If you're an absolute purist, this movie could annoy you - but if that's the case I'm betting you didn't like HP: Order of the Phoenix, either.

Did I mention it was funny? Because it totally is. There are lines lifted straight from the book, and then all kinds of little character asides and moments that had the audience laughing out loud repeatedly. SO MUCH FUN.

The major stuff (as regards to actual plot points) is all there. The ways the characters get there has been muddled up a bit. (There's an entirely new scene regarding the Burrow while the gang's home for Christmas that is totally intense and worked for me, though it did bug my friend.) It felt long and was long, but I was riveted to the screen for every minute of it. It's a beautiful and beautifully done movie, and I will definitely see it again.

I'm thinking Saturday, if I can get a ticket...