Harry Potter Fever

You must excuse me for my lack of words this morning, but Christine and I went to a midnight showing of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE last night. We must have been mad to venture into the mob at the cinemas - it was showing in all 8 auditoriums at the cinema we went to in Danville, Kentucky.

*****I guess I should say - SPOILER ALERT*****

But it was worth the wait - this was probably the best movie so far. That is, if you can get past all the changes from the book and the unnecessary additions. Oh, and not getting the HUGE fight scene inside Hogwarts at the very end.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and it makes a great stand alone movie, especially for people who have never read the books - and if they haven't read the book, they must live under a rock. The Weasley twin's joke shop was more awesome than I had imagined in my head and the emotion of Hermione's heartbreak over Ron's relationship with Lavendar was heartfelt. Luna was brillant in the few scenes she was in - you've gotta love Loony Luna. The cave scene was cool, much more scary than I imagined, and the death scene was overwhelming. I didn't think I would cry, but I did.

What I didn't like about the movie was the unnecessary interaction between Harry and a girl working in a coffee shop at the very beginning. Where did that come from? And of course, the Dursleys were totally cut from the movie - Dumbledore picks up Harry at the afore mentioned coffee shop.

And as I mentioned earlier, I was waiting the entire movie for the huge fight scene at the end of the movie. The scene on the astronomy tower was great, but instead of showing the fighting and chaos inside Hogwarts, the action shifts to Harry chasing Snape toward Hagrid's cabin. I wanted more interaction between Snape and Harry, but alas, it didn't come. Now I see why this movie was rated PG instead of PG 13 like the last two, the violence was at a total minimum. Not that I'm advocating violence, but the 6th book was much more violent than the movie.

The one thing I did love was the growing relationship between Ginny and Harry - it was tastefully done and reminded me of how young love is supposed to be. Ginny (Bonnie Wright) has blossomed into a beautiful girl and her loyalty to Harry is amazing. Makes me anxious for the next movie.

Or should I say, next two movies. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS will be cut into two movies. I realize they want to cram as much as possible into the last of the franchise, but was it really necessary to have Part 1 and Part 2? Only time will tell.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think it's time for a nap.