Half-Blooded

Looking back, I was apparently less critical of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when I wrote about it than I've grown to be now. I suppose I've had time to reflect on the failings of that film, especially as I reconsidered it in light of going to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I will say that this latest film manages to pace itself better than the previous one, which I now blame on David Yates' experience coming mostly from TV. But I still think some plot lines are truncated too much compared to the book. A good example of this comes from the title itself, as we're introduced to the concept of the Half-Blood Prince when Harry gets his used potions book, but barely touch on the mystery until the end when we learn who it is. I was also sad to see that the battle in Hogwarts that appears towards the end of the book doesn't happen in the movie, as I think that would have give the movie a dose of action it could have used.

One deviation from the book I did like was seeing Malfoy grapple with the enormity of the task he was given by Voldemort. Even here, though, the movie tips the secret of what he's doing way too early.

Anyway, this is a better film than its predecessor, which hopefully portends continued improvement for the last two films.

On the trailer front, we were treated to six, though four were for the younger crowd (Shorts, The Princess and the Frog, New Moon, and GI Joe, which is aimed for adults but I can only think of as a kid's movie). The two of note for me were Sherlock Holmes, featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. Looks interesting, but I don't recall there being that many explosions in the original stories. As for the other one... I've forgotten what it is. I'll post later if I remember.

UPDATE! The other trailer was for Where the Wild Things Are, and it looks fantastic. Or it at least has a really good trailer.