Early Potter Reviews

It may be no surprise that Bruno has taken the number one spot at the box office this past weekend. But oddly, the reviews are not saying much for the film. Yahoo! Users are rating this a sad C+ with Critics giving it a slightly better B-. "Bruno" is not something I would rush out to see, but will probably see someday.

But, lets take a turn and talk about the movie that is no doubt going to upset it from the Box Office throne. "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" comes out tomorrow at midnight (or Wednesday at midnight, if you want to get technical). I wanted to share some info about it from Rotten Tomatoes.

Rotten Tomatoes is breaking down the film with early reviews from critics. One of the most impressive notes is on Jim Brodbent's portrayal of Slughorn.

"If this were any movie but part six of a series, I'd say [Jim] Broadbent does 'Best Supporting Actor' level work here. It's a master class in how to make the most of every moment onscreen without ever once overpowering the film around him." - Drew McWeeny, HitFix.com

I really liked the character of Slughorn in the books, so this is good news, especially since I was dissapointed by how he didnt look to me how I had imagined him.

But there is also some dissapointing news, the film is 153 minutes long and one critic thinks that it was tediously long.

"By the time we get back to the actual plot, almost two hours have passed, and by then, you might have completely given up on caring who the titular "half-blood prince" is. That makes it the first time in the series you really start feeling the movie's length before the two-hour mark due to the amount of needless filler." -- Edward Douglas, Coming Soon

This is interesting to me, because the book itself was very slow paced with an intense ending. And since the climax was actually removed from the film (regardless of the producers comments on the similarity of the finale of the final book, its still a stupid idea), it will be curious to see how this film reviews by the public.

That brings me to my next note.

"There are surprisingly few action sequences ... But those there are - a chase in the corn between Harry and the Death Eaters, the scene in a forbidding cave where Harry and Dumbledore seek to unravel Voldemort's secrets - crackle with a chilling sense of threat." -- Sarah Crompton, Telegraph UK

I just dont understand. People love the action sequences of the Harry Potter series. They are just as needed as the element of magic in the story. Not to mention there was no part where Harry is chasing Death Eaters in a corn field in the book. Why do filmmakers add scenes and then take some out. Yuck.

Rotten tomatoes is showing that the film has taken on an artistically beautiful look. I was unaware that cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (responsible for the eye candy in "Amelie") worked on HP6.

"Not only has [Yates] made the film look gorgeous, but he has a much surer grip on the special effects, deploying them in the service of big set pieces that actually flow with the rhythms of the story, as well as a better understanding of what his younger cast can do." -- Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

So, we are just going to have to wait. I hope that this film turns out better than how I currently feel it will. Reguardless, Im excited to finally have a movie coming out that isnt being bashed by critics. And based on these posters, all I can say is that I hope they dont handle the love stories like they did in the near-nightmare that was "Goblet of Fire".