To Greatness

(My thoughts after watching "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" for the first time)


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IMHO, It is one of the best, if not the best, Harry Potter movie to date. David Yates has pressure on his shoulders to surpass this as he finishes the last book adaptation and divides it into two films.


I miss the old characters because they have lesser screen times, but I like the new ones (I think Cormac McLaggen and Tom Riddle are dashing!) and I love how the main characters have evolved. There was a great improvement in Dan's and Emma's acting-- Dan because he became the sensitive and mature Harry, Emma because she became sweeter and less hysterical (haha!) while still staying Hermione-ish. Hats off to Sir Michael Gambon and to Tom Felton! The portrayal of their characters awed me.


Watching the first 20 minutes in 3D was breathtaking as expected, though I would have wanted to see the last scenes in 3D instead, starting from the cave scene. That scene reminded me of Gandalf (from "The Lord of the Rings") battling the balrog with a lot of "Gollums" crawling around him. Good thing Harry was there to remind me it was his movie (haha!). That scene was so touching it made my throat hurt. My favorite scene was when Draco lowered his wand, then Dumbledore said to Snape, "Severus, please..." I cried. A lot of people did. Maybe watching it on a screen that's 2-stories high does wonders.


I immensely enjoyed the "puppy love" moments. I appreciate the additional scenes at The Burrow, which supported what Hermione said to Harry in the next scene-- that he's an easy target. I applaud the trio's chemistry because they needed to establish that for the upcoming movie installments.


I wanted to see the D.A. (Dumbledore's Army) fight with the deatheaters when they entered Hogwarts, similar to the fight in the Department of Mysteries in the last film. I wanted to see the white tomb and all creatures mourn Dumbledore's death. The last scene with Fawkes is not as touching. I can't have it, all I guess.


The 6th book is probably the most difficult to be adapted into the big screen because it's more of a narration or explanation of how Voldemort came to be the darkest wizard in Harry's time. That's probably why some people got bored or disappointed. For me, they showed me a movie fit to portray the death of the greatest wizard who ever lived. That's enough reasonfor me to watch it again and again.