Tomatometer Watch: How Good is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

Josh Smith

Yeah, i think there are basically a few logical points to stop the next movie...

i may have chosen the moment when they destroy the first horcrux though since i think that kind of ends the 1st half and leads into the next segment of events

that said, i think that scene or the scene at xenophilius' also wouldve worked decently as well

as for this movie, my only giant concern is the issue of the memories...

how i the world can they actually show the point of these memories if they only show 2 of the 4 memories involved?....

How does Harry supposedly know about anything for the next story if he doesnt know about the horcruxes involved?

for them to omit the Gaunt scene is an absolute travesty imo

Jul 12 - 12:43 PM

Big Brother

Not a particularly stellar weekend at the box office. Bruno is leading with an est. 30.4 mil and crashed heavily after it's opening day so probably not going to have great legs. Ice Age and Transformers were the only other movie's over 20 mil in second and third. I think most people are like me and waiting for Potter on Wednesday. On the brightside for people who hate mindless teen comedies I Love You Beth Cooper only opened up to 5 million. Ouch, Hayden better start helping them figure out how to fix Heroes. ASAP.

Jul 12 - 01:44 PM

Big Brother

For those of you keeping track that mean The Hangover in it's 6 week made almost twice as much as Beth Cooper in it's debut. Apparently America loves Bradley Cooper more than Beth Cooper. Again I say Ouch.

Jul 12 - 01:49 PM

Hannah Buck

I can't wait for this movie!

Jul 12 - 02:44 PM

Al S.

I just saw the trailer last two weeks ago and it looks E-P-I-C.

But crap or not, I will still see it on the big screen, as it's been a tradition in the family to see all the HP movies in theaters.

GOSH, I FEEL OLD! The first released HP movie was when I was fifteen! I can't wait to go back to tradition.

Jul 12 - 06:05 PM

Drizzt Reznicek

ohh cannot wait

Jul 13 - 01:03 PM

john bresnihan

41 reviews in, only one is rotten. and with 5 fresh top critic reviews, i'd say harry potter and the half blood prince is certified fresh at 98%

Jul 13 - 03:30 PM

karena karson

http://vostuu.com/watch28015.html

Jul 13 - 04:50 PM

celia hambright

YAY!!! It's CERTIFIED FRESH!!! GO HARRY POTTER!

Jul 13 - 06:59 PM

T2 Yap

This would be a film of more adventure than the daily routine of the schooling life.This is the first great leap on the way to destroy voldemort which can also be the motion picture that makes the audience urge for the next.This will sure be a hit to the harry potter series.This would be in the real words, a new life to harry potter films.

Jul 14 - 07:29 AM

brian Firenzi

I personally couldn't get into "Half-Blood Prince" for the entire running time. This is one of those movies where every scene felt to me like it existed only to lead up to something, which I was waiting for...then when I got out, my friends were gushing about all those scenes and I realized I was supposed to savor that stuff. Full disclosure: Haven't read the book.

I wanted to like this movie because Yates directed the last one, which surprised me by being my favorite. But yeah, I just didn't find myself invested in any of it. Part of me feels like some critics are just excited about how it doesn't look or feel like a kid's movie anymore (and it doesn't), but I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Jul 15 - 11:42 AM

Will Barrier

The new Harry Potter and half blood prince movie was down right bad. The director made it too childish, he took the darkness of the book and changed the tone completely to fit a PG demographic. Though cute in some parts, the picture as a whole was dull, uneventful, and often much different than Rowlings version. I can only hope that the producers can persuade Warner Bros to make the Deathly Hallows movies PG-13 or I'm scared they will suck too. Lets face it anybody who is 12 or under is probably there with a parent anyways.

Jul 15 - 05:09 PM

Ken Ramsey

The folks who wrote glowingly of this film are full of it. I just saw it, dropping around $100.00 for me and my excited family pumped so see this film. I'm angry, I might as well have thrown my money in the street. Then maybe someone who needed it might have found it, and I wouldn't have wasted 2.5 hours of our lives.

Oscar contention? Forget it. Best of the Harry Potter series? Hardly. It's more like a franchise killer. You can bet we won't be exactly rushing out to see the next one, if in fact there is one. This film does not justify one.

It's one long, disjointed, listless bore.

Jul 15 - 07:23 PM

Paul Martin

Frankly i thought this film was fantastic. It serves as a deep breath before the final battle, and thus I am glad the pace has slowed. Half Blood Prince is thrilling, hilarious, brilliantly acted, and exceptionally emotional. It is every bit as good as Azkaban, and stays truest in spirit to the books so far.

I disagree completely with those who say it was too long or too dull. I think the fact that every scene was not filled with explosions and breaking glass was actually a good choice on the part of Yates, as this movie doesn't come across as a desperate bid for blockbuster money. 4/4

Jul 15 - 08:27 PM

celia hambright

It's AMAZING!! I've already seen it twice and I will probably go watch it again tomorrow! I love this one! Some of the critics were talking about how the movie is kind of in two parts and they're right. The first part is soooo good and so funny and I think I prefer that half of the film. But the second part is when the serious, drama, and darkness come into play. I love that half of the film too, but it's very overwhelming because I couldn't figure out what to feel. I was feeling all these emotions at the same time (fear, sadness, shock, anger, suspense), the last 30 minutes go by so fast that you barely have time to catch your breath.

But I LOVED it. It's the perfect set up for Deathly Hallows. The filmmakers are clearly going to have their work cut out for them when it comes to cleaning up the plot because the horcruxes were definitely not discussed enough but I think they will be able to do it since they have two whole films to work with.

Jul 15 - 11:00 PM

celia hambright

I think most people need to see it twice because I wasn't even sure I liked it the first time around. But it's definitely amazing. Especially when you know what to expect. It's absolutely brilliant.

Jul 15 - 11:04 PM

Peter Eichman

I enjoyed the movie but I can't say it was my favorite.

I think the first 15-20 minutes were to disjointed. To me it felt as if I had arrived late at the theater and missed the first "30 minutes" of the movie. However, once I got into the movie I did enjoy it, mostly. The low-key character driven stories between are main three and their love interests was well done and not overly "angsty" like the previous movies.

The ending is what I really didn't like. I had no connection to the events (yes I have read all the books, but i don't want to spoil for those who have't). Overall the pacing was good, but after the more light-hearted story throughout the movie I expected a strong action ending filled with dark, emotion. Instead we get a "hit and run" that just ends.

So, beginning was too abrupt and ending was dissappointing mainly because of the lack of emotion I felt, but the middle 2 hours of the movie were fantastic. 7/10

Jul 15 - 11:28 PM

TL Demas

I wish that I could be part of the chorus of positive thinkers about Half-Blood Prince but it is not one of the best in the series. To my way of thinking it is the least engaging and least Rowling-like of the series. The waste of time for the first hour and a half is ridiculous. I half suspect taht some marketing genius somewhere encouraged the focus on the young trio's love interests because it might garner even larger audience response. Twilight it ain't.

The MacGuffin of the whole Harry Potter story is Voldemort: who he was, is, and how to stop him. That is Harry's function and everything should have been in service to that. It isn't in this film. Except for a split second you don't even see him. And the "young love" is not contributory to the development of the story.

Someone above talked about how it was over before s/he knew it: I was looking at my watch by the time the script got to Ron Weasley's love potion scene (which was rather good).

The cinematography was good, for Noir. The music so-so. The acting: as always the ongoing cast (Gambon, Rickman, Smith, Coltrane, and the Trio) are really good.

It is too bad that Yates is signed on for the last two. Too damned bad.

Jul 17 - 10:30 AM

Jean Azzopardi

I think the movie was brilliant although some things were taken a bit too forgranted...people who do not read the books probably went out of the cinemas sligthly confused or even wondering if there was a plot, cos even I felt some things were left hovering and i'm a reader.
there wasn't enough focus on the 'Half Blood Prince' which Harry was SO fixated about in reality, apart from Snape's line which is hardly audible :/
I kind of have mixed feelings about this, i loved order of the phoenix but I think Cuaron would have been best for this one because Azkaban had a lot to explain too and he managed to fit it without leaving a sense of confusion - even though this is longer.
Let's face it Cuaron did save the franchise otherwise it would have been stuck in the happy go lucky atmosphere of the first two...
Personally I loved it of course but I think it wouldn't have been impossible to insert some informative dialogue for the non-readers...it's a huge turn-off and this was a transitional storyline so extra care should have been made cos it's an in between book so it's even more challenging when there isn't an actual 'end'

Jul 18 - 04:08 AM

Jean Azzopardi

and seriously if I hadn't read the books I would have gone out of the cinemas wondering 'WHAT THE *!@^ WAS MALFOY DOING ANYWAY?'
if this hadn't been Harry Potter the reviews would probably have dropped WAY down let's face it...there is no sense of continuity
1. Voldemort's past 2. The Draco storyline 3. The Harry/Dumbledore missions

And was this the book where they had to visit this old house where there was an 'abused' squib/witch cos I'm thoroughly confused now even though i read them :S

I SERIOUSLY hope they're more careful with Deathly Hallows, they're going to ruin the whole franchise! Luckily it's longer so there will be less probability of them cutting important plotlines :/

Jul 18 - 04:17 AM