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Beehive readers wild about 'Harry'

Most loved 'Half-Blood' except where it strayed from the book.

Published online on Thursday, Jul. 16, 2009

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Moviegoers are buzzing about "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which opened in local theaters at midnight Tuesday. Here's how some of our readers rated the movie (spoiler alert) on The Bee's entertainment blog, fresno beehive.com:

"For a 2-and-a-half-hour movie, I never thought I would say that the movie felt like it was missing a lot of material.

"Here's the thing: The movie isn't bad, the relationships between the characters are the heart of the film. These moments make the film endearing, worthwhile and even at times outstanding.

"The problem with the film is that it's missing the mystery of the past films. The Potter films have always been akin to a wizardry Scooby-Doo gang, which is sadly absent from this film. Instead the audience are delivered sequences that advances the plot that the characters simply accept passively and then play their allotted parts.

"Who is the Half-Blood Prince should have been a main thrust of the film but instead is barely mentioned, although that question is resolved rather matter of factly at the end of the film.

"In the end it is an enjoyable film but lacks, well, for lack of a better word, the magic of the previous films."

- Chris "Leftybrown" Brown

"I thought the HBP was really great! I really enjoyed the special effects and the dark settings added to the film. It really gave the film a nice edge. I also enjoyed the humor that was used to add a light feeling to the film. It stayed pretty accurate to the book, so I'm happy. Overall it was an amazing movie!"

- Amber

"I enjoyed this film, I laughed and cried. I didn't feel like I was sitting for 2.5 hours. I was completely enveloped in the story and the scenes that played before me on the screen. The effects were great, and the humor was fabulous.

"I am very disappointed they left out Dumbledore's funeral. His role was very important in Harry's life. To see the funeral come to life with the number of his supporters would have been a wonderful sight. The funeral would allow readers and nonreaders alike to see that there is still a large following for good versus those that have decided to follow evil."

- Maggie

"Oh my goodness!!!! That was a great movie!!! The characters are believable, I cried with them, cheered with them and was in awe with them as the story of Harry Potter continues to unfold ... yes there were some differences from the book ... but I think that is what makes a movie great ... taking what was written out and adapting it to the big screen ... that movie would have to be 5 hours long to include everything..."

- Melissa

"I loved the movie! At first I was a bit worried when I read that this movie was less dark, comedic, and had a PG rating instead of the usual PG-13 rating ... but I wasn't disappointed at all. I laughed more than expected and the movie (though 2.5 hours long) seemed to go by so fast. I can't wait for the next movie to come out."

- Eric Billings

"I loved the movie overall. There were many parts that were in the book that I believed should have been in the movie, such as the battle scene between the death eaters and the Order in Hogwarts after Dumbledore was killed. I believe that they should have at least spent more time after his death such as the funeral; I think that they downplayed this too much. Through the books you develop a relationship ... with all the characters, and when one is killed you would think that they would elaborate more on it. Overall I truly enjoyed the movie and I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to view it with you early. Overall I wasn't disappointed; what more can one expect in a 21/2 hr movie ... I'm going to go see it again this weekend."

- Rachael Fernandez

"HP6 was more of an art film than an event film in many ways. The look and tone of the film was more subdued compared to the previous incarnations. However, it was still a magical film.

"I may be digressing, but compared to the 2.5- hour monstrosity of Transformers 2, this is heads and shoulders above. To create a world where wizards and magic is far more plausible than robots is quite a spectacular achievement.

"In a way, while this was undoubtedly the best book of the series, it does not make the most cinematic one. That will be a toss up between "Prisoner of Azkaban" and the second part of "Deathly Hallows."

- Sunny Shadow