harry potter and the half-baked plot

last saturday was family day in my company and everyone got free tickets to the harry potter movie at the podium. i invited my brother and his wife to watch the movie with me and i got to drive the whole day! (yay!) the ticket came with a hotdog, junior popcorn and tall soda. we were lucky to arrive early and we were able to get good seats. people started arriving and soon after the whole cinema was filled with friends and family all eagerly anticipating the film.

as everyone knows, the harry potter series is one of the most successful and highly awaited franchise in the recent years. me, being a fan when i first laid eyes on the first book while i was in college, is one of those people who will not dare miss it on the big screen. i have all three books (still in good condition) at home, but then i didn't buy the 4th book (coz it's too thick), borrowed the 5th book (which was crappy) and stopped reading from the sixth to the final book. i thought the 5th book was too predictable.. in the first few chapters you knew what was going to happen but rowling wrote too many chapters just to build the suspense. still, that did not stop me from wanting to finish the movie. and so, given that i have no idea what the half-blood prince was all about, i was expecting to be awed by the film and the story.



alas, no matter how good the effects and the actors are, if the story is weak, it won't save the movie. the whole story just centered on two things: the love relationships between the cast and tom riddle as a child. the romance between them were cute.. ron was funny, hermione looked so heartbreaking when she cried while harry was such a martyr (can't think of a better term right now). the story about dumbledore and harry trying to solve the tom riddle (pardon the pun) started interesting but it just dragged on and on and when the secrets were revealed by professor slughorn, the secret wasn't even a big deal! all throughout the movie, the mood was dark and gloomy, there were no major action scenes aside from the brief quidditch game. and to think that the title being Half-blood prince, there will be a big significance when we find out who it is.. but when it was revealed at the end, it also didn't matter much.

despite my disappointment in the movie, i know it's just part of the story and i'm sure, the last book (which will be split into 2 films) will be better and will exceed everyone's expectations! so let's all hope 2010 comes and we'll get to see another harry potter movie!