HBP: the Good, the Not So Good, and the Ridiculous (Spoilers)

[va32h]

Spoilers for the movie...if you haven't seen it.



The Good:

The Lavendar/Ron romance was hilarious, and kudos to the actress playing Lavendar, as she really went for it and played her crazy role to the hilt.  

Luna's Gryffindor hat, in all it's glory. 

All the humor really - Rupert Grint did a terrific job as Ron high on love potion.  

The Ginny/Harry romance: this was both good and not so good. I think JK Rowling is dreadful at writing romance, so the Harry/Ginny relationship in the books was just a big old mess.  I much prefer the subtle way it's handled in the film to Harry's raging chest monster.  But...


The Not So Good:

Sometimes it's *so* subtle as to be non-existent. The scene where Ginny feeds Harry a tart at Christmas, which I gathered was supposed to be a flirtation, just fell flat for me. I also wish that Harry had kissed Ginny instead of vice-versa.  But then I have to remember that movie-Harry doesn't have the same sorts of issues as book-Harry. 

It's always annoying when the filmmakers cut things, especially when they go and add things...the whole drama at the Burrow seemed unnecessary...I get that they are trying to establish that no one is safe, etc. but then once the gang gets to Hogwarts everyone runs around willy nilly as if it were any other year, so what was the point of establishing all this supposed great danger?

The Ridiculous:

We all know Tom Riddle is a raging psycho, but he's also supposed to be a charming sycophant.  Child Tom Riddle is so blatantly a sociopath that he might as well have it stamped on his forehead. He doesn't make eye contact; he speaks in monotone...it's too much of an anvil.  And it makes Dumbledore look positively stupid that he allowed this blatantly disturbed boy into Hogwarts.  And you'd never believe that Clearly Crazy Tom could charm Slughorn, or Hepzibah Smith, or the fledgling Death Eaters, either. 

Dumbledore's hand injury:  I swear, they just sprinkled a little black dust on Gambon's hand. THIS is supposed to be a fatal curse?

The ending:  Lots of problems here.  Seemed pointless that Draco worked so hard to get the DEs into Hogwarts if they weren't going to do anything once they were there.  Having Harry merely hide instead of being frozen and invisible is a huge boo boo for me, as it is totally OOC for the impulsive Harry to just stand there (although it is a nice touch that he finally trusts Snape just once before being utterly betrayed). 

Now - the big reveal of the HBP was a complete failure.  There is no drama, no energy in the scene at all - Harry and Snape exchange what, one curse apiece and then Snape strolls over calm as can be and says "I'm the Half Blood Prince". Blink and you'll miss it!

And on an entirely different note: am I just crazy or was there a lot of homoerotic subtext surrounding the whole issue of Slughorn and his "collecting"?

va32h