So I know I’m a little late on the bandwagon, but last night The Boy, Sibling, My Dad and I went to go see the Half Blood Prince. I had low expectations, my twitter feed had exploded with negative opinions, and out of habit I had avoided most of the reviews, but the ones that did slip by weren’t encouraging.

Yes, I know. I have no shame.

Before I get into it, perhaps there are some things people don’t know about Movie Theater Etiquette. You may be surprised, but there are SOME things that you shouldn’t do. I’m not talking about the rules that everyone complains about (no talking on cellphones, kicking chairs, or overly enthusiastic making out in the front row). I’m talking about the rules the rest of us take for granted. One: NO COMMENTING EVERY FIVE SECONDS. This includes yawns and mocking. I want to see the damn movie, not listen to your racket. Two: For goodness sake, popcorn is to be eaten, not to use as missiles to see how far down the cinema you can get them, or to see if you can aim for granny’s hair. And finally: NO FARTING. The girl who sat next to The Boy had the most horrible gas. No, they weren’t silent, and yes, we could ALL SMELL IT. Disgusting. If you can’t hold it in, then you need to leave the cinema and deal with it. Away from the rest of us.

Okay, rant over.

This is the fair warning that says if you don’t want to read a rambling review, skip to the last paragraph.

The Half Blood Prince. To be honest, I kind of liked it. Yes there was cheese. Yes it was melodramatic. But we’ve all come to expect that of Harry Potter movies.

I liked the scenes with the trio, I liked Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, and the stairwell of The Burrow. I liked that they added new scenes that didn’t happen in the book to illustrate certain plot points. I liked Luna and her lion hat, and tinsel dress and wrackspurt glasses. I liked McLaggens stupid arrogance, and Hermiones birds, and that poor Draco DOES cry in the bathroom, and that he did look really dreadful in the last scene. I liked Bellatrix’s bouncy evil attitude, and her kicking the utensils down the great hall. And I REALLY liked Horcrux Cave with the flames and the Inferi – so much like the book cover!

I didn’t like the movie Ginny (where was the feisty Ginny we all know and love? And doing up his shoelace? *pulls face*). I didn’t like the cheese and fake seriousness of all the adult scenes in the intro. I was a bit gutted they left out Levicorpus, and some of the other memories (I was particularly looking forward to the purple velvet suit). Got a bit annoyed with Lavender. I didn’t like how the memories were portrayed (I was expecting them to be much more elegant. But oh well, each to their own). And I didn’t like that if you didn’t read the books, you really weren’t getting much from the movie (and I know this, because neither Sibling nor My Dad have read the book and I spent a few frustrating minutes trying to explain. I gave it up as a lost cause).

In short, yes, if this was facebook I’d call my self a fan and tick the ‘thumbs up’ button. I don’t have a favourite HP movie, and I prolly won’t watch any of them again but this one was okay. I enjoyed it alot more than I thought I would.

I know, you were probably expecting a cohesive, well thought out review. Or a rant. Or something more than a jumbled list of what I liked and didn’t. I thought about it, I did. But other people have said what I didn’t. If you want a sarcastic Fan Girl review, go read Edgars Harry Potter Review (though he’s actually a fan boy. Minor technicality). Teaser:

“Rowling has written a story about men who are in possession of a great power, be it a potions book (Harry) or a former potions master (Dumbledore), and asks the questions, does the hero understand the power that he is wrestling with? Is that source rooted in evil? Is that source worthy of respect? What kind of man (Draco) do you become if you use such power?

Only problem is, Rowling’s story of power shaping a hero or a villain is almost lost completely because her adventure and mcgruffins are … well, I’ll say it… kinda stupid.”

There you go. The movie has done the same thing, is essentially what his review is saying. But his review is a bit less succinct than that, and has more sarcasm. And some humor. And I’ll cease the rambling now.

Okay, done. All you non-review reading readers can read now.

In other news, another thing I did enjoy was the previews. I’ve said it once but I’m going to say it again. How AWESOME does Where The Wild Things Are look? I LOVED the trailer:

It is going to be AWESOME! :)