HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
I'm a real fan of the Harry Potter series, but I didn't have the chance to read the 6th and the 7th books until recently. The Half-Blood Prince captivated me, as with all Harry Potter books. I took an approximate of 13 hours over 3 days to complete it, staying up as late as 6a.m. to read it.
However, most of the story has already been spoilt by others, so it wasn't that enjoyable as I hope it to be. I already knew who the Half-Blood Prince was, and that Dumbledore was gonna die, and who was to kill him. Although it had a well-written story, it left me wondering, "What's the big deal with Half-Blood Prince?"
That question would be answered in the 7th book, but the Half-Blood Prince and his textbook should have taken a more significant role in this story. Its still a pretty good book though.
But that was the book. The movie is entirely different.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,The Movie
Against my better judgement, I watched the Half-Blood Prince movie with my brothers. As expected, the movie was bad, had poor cast and acting, with much of the story cut short and distorted.
I really hated the way they portrayed Dumbledore. Dumbledore is supposed to be kind, gentle, extremely wise (almost all-knowing), without a hint of pride or worry. Only once did I remember him fearful, battling Voldemort in the 5th book. Dumbledore wasn't afraid of Voldemort one bit, but he feared for Harry's life, who was in mortal danger.
In the movie, however, Dumbledore made a proud statement when Harry told him that he thought no one can Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds. His reply was "being me has its privileges", which is complete rubbish. Firstly, Dumbledore would never make a proud statement, even though he is the most powerful wizard of his time. Secondly, no one, not even Dumbledore, can Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts, save for the House-Elves.
In the movie series, Dumbledore seems to enjoy talking about the love lives of Harry and his friends, making him look sort of gossipy. Dumbledore isn't like that at all in the books. I only remember him asking Harry once whether he was in a relationship with Hermione.
Once in the movies, Dumbledore grabbed Harry and start shaking him, being very worried for him, which is in a complete contrast to his calm and gentle personality described in the books.
I imagined Horace Slughorn as fat and chubby teacher, as the book described him. However, the guy who played his role wasn't convincingly fat, not to mention his poor acting.
Many of the scenes were horribly wrong. The first scene at the subway where Harry met Dumbledore, did not exist at all. There was no train, no poster about magic, no girl to date Harry, nothing. Dumbledore did come to fetch Harry, but the scene was the Dursley's House, and Harry already knew that Dumbledore was coming.
At the final scene at Hogwarts, there was supposed to be an escalated battle between Death Eaters vs Ron, Hermione, some of Dumbledore's Army and The Order Of The Phoenix. However in the movie, the Death Eaters arrived and exited Hogwarts without any resistance, save for Harry. Snape was supposed to be in a deranged fury when Harry tried to use "Sectumsempra" on him, but he was rather calm as he dueled Harry.
I rate this movie 2/5. The book is so much better.
The only thing worth watching, as many would agree, would be the stunning Emma Watson.
Emma WatsonI had doubts about how good would the 7th and final installment of the Harry Potter series would be. My friend Leroy said that he didn't like the ending. However, as I began to read the book just a few days back, I fell into the mesmerizing trance which had engaged me the day I set my eyes on the 1st book.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.That's the Slytherin locket, a Horcrux.
I think it took me about 18 to 20 hours to read the whole book over 3 days. This book, is the most exciting and action-packed of the series. Even in the early chapters, Harry's and his friends were threatened with mortal danger. Many friends and loved ones died in this book. Harry also faced Voldemort many more times compared to the previous books.
I thought I could predict what was going to happen, but I was wrong. Many more secrets were revealed and the story took twists that I did not expect, much to my delight :D
I totally relished the idea of the Hallows and Horcruxes, and was very much pleasantly surprised by the epic Battle of Hogwarts.
As with all fans, I wish the story could have ended better, but it was still better than I expected it to be. I wished that Harry would possess all the Hallows, becoming the master of death, before the final fight with Voldemort. I also wanted Ron and Hermione to accomplish something more significant like defeating Bellatrix in a duel or something.
Nevertheless, I am sufficiently satisfied at how things turned out, and I must say that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is possibly my favourite book of the series.
I trust that the movie would not be up to the book's standard, which is very sad. One can only hope for the best :D
Man I gotta be more careful about reading books! Reading Harry Potter books totally messed up my bio clock - I'm sleeping at 5am and waking up at 12nn.
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