One-and-a-Half Star Prince

The latest installment in the Harry Potter series, "The Half Blood Prince" was a bit of a disappointment and this is coming from a fairly rabid fan of the book and film series. I hate to say it but the movie was just, well...boring. To be fair, I am reading the book concurrently and it has its issues as well. But that being said there were numerous other issues with the film.

***spoilers***

The pacing was really difficult to follow and at times seemed like the production was racing from plot point to plot point with little regard for the characters motivations or background. The first 30-40 minutes reminded me of making marks on a checklist.

"Slughorn is a chair...got that?...ok. Trip to the orphanage done?...let's move on, folks. Don't forget 30 seconds of Draco brooding, there....perfect!" Finally, we have 2 hours of plodding to wade through. Sheesh.

The film is heavy on teenage angst. The principals are at the ripe age for maximal hormonal fluctuation. Hearts are broken, chests are pounded, girls swoon. Pretty typical fare, but even the production team must have seen the writing on the wall. They added a new scene midway, full of fire and Death Eaters and explosions (was Michael Bay uncredited?) just to keep the adrenaline levels off life support.

In fairness the movie looks great and the cast all do a fine job, but the pacing and material often seem forced and in the end the movie doesnt do very much to push the story forward. This film is a poster child for a decent directors cut, but it has so many bits that need work it would amount to a substantially remade film and I don't see that as an option.

Just my two cents.