Sunshine Meets Japan

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I liked it.

I didn’t know if I would, ‘cause my dad liked it while my brother did not, and while my dad is a harsh critic, my brother sat with me through every minute of the book on tape, every time we listened to it all the way through (which we did several times). Not to mention, the fifth movie SUCKED, excuse my language. The best part of the fifth movie was Umbridge, and frankly, everything else was utter bollocks.

So, walking into that surprisingly small Japanese theater, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

But I liked it. :D

My brother had warned me about the differences from the book (for example, Luna finding Harry on the train, instead of Tonks), and though there were many, they did not impact the main story at all, and in fact, flowed rather nicely. I was impressed. :D And actually, they didn’t leave out too much, like they did in the fifth (they left out EVERYTHING). Even Lavender Brown played her part, as creepy and obnoxious as she was!

I was most delighted by Malfoy, whose performance, although dramatic, was quite stirring. And he alone reminded me of how AWESOME the general casting of the series is. Seriously! Luckily, the three main characters aged well enough, as did everybody else (except Neville) - even Ginny, whose thin mouth had me worried for a while! :D Now, I think we can all agree that the original Dumbledore was 12345678910 X better than Michael Gambon, mostly because Michael Gambon is way too intense to be Dumbledore (see the fourth movie). But he toned it down for this particular film, THANK GOD, and actually pulled off being a more serene, calming Dumbledore. :D

So, casting, awesome.

Special effects, awesome.

Snape is sexy, awesome.

Ginny is slightly taller than Harry, AWESOME. :D

Generally I liked it. :D

(ALSO, I’m so glad the Deathly Hallows will be in two parts. The wait will be unbearable, but at least they won’t destroy it like they destroyed the Order of the Phoenix! :D YAY!)

Thoughts?