What I've Watched: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It's amazing how good going to the movies feels when you realize you have not been in a really long time. Sure, there are tons of movies out right now that I really do want to see, but I've just not had the time and so I have been making do with massive Netflix viewings. But I was able to free up a couple hours to see the new Harry Potter movie, since it's been tradition that the wife and I go on opening weekend, and to let her down now would mean I'd have to sleep outside with all the bugs and I am not up for that.

Being the sixth movie and with only two more left (they are splitting the final book into two films, in case you hadn't heard), this means that the Half-Blood Prince was probably going to leave me with more questions than answers. Well it did. I guess I could be one of those millions of people who actually read the books themselves, but I am way too busy reading other stuff and my interest in the story and characters is quenched just fine by the films, thank you very much.

For those who grew up with the books and the subsequent movies, I bet they are interesting and fun to watch. I do wonder how those parents with kids around 9 or 10 are feeling about these movies, though, because they are by no means easy going. People are dying, the plot is getting more and more depressing and dark, and beyond your typical teenage puberty-induced recognition of the opposite sex, there is not much in the light-hearted, family film nature within this movie. It's one thing to have aged along with the actors who are playing these characters; you get used to it as the movies progress. Jumping in now at a younger age has got to be inducing some nightmares in these kids.

Seeing the movie in our new local cineplex was nice. At least it didn't turn out to be the talk/cell/text fest that Gallery Place or Bethesda theaters have become. The only real weirdness (and I have heard it from others) is that males are getting a little too into Emma Watson. I don't deny that she's cute and probably going to be quite the looker in years to come, but I'm getting a little weirded out listening to guys in the theater start talking about nailing that girl. It's just creepy.

In any event, the movie itself was tense and while I still wish I could see more of Alan Rickman (love that guy) and Helena Bonham Carter (ditto for the gal), I think the final two movies are going to be a great finale to a fantastic film franchise. I just wish they treated Marvel and DC franchises this well.