I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I do plan on seeing it once I get back from my trip to Nashville later this week. I did see the earlier movies, though, and I have been impressed at how the movies are maturing much like the books matured.

At the same time, I don’t think that the people behind the movie had much of a choice – what with all of the main actors all entering their late teens and early twenties! Anyway, here is some more information on the movie from the Los Angeles Times:

After muggles packed the midnight shows, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” quickly slowed down at the box office and resembled, well, the last “Potter” movie.

The sixth film in the Warner Bros. series based on the bestselling books sold a studio-estimated $159.7 million worth of tickets in the U.S. from Wednesday through Sunday, exactly $20 million more than the last installment, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” did in its first five days in July 2007.

About $11 million of that difference can be attributed to the nearly 8% rise in ticket prices from 2007, according to data from the National Assn. of Theatre Owners. The other $9 million came from midnight shows Wednesday, when “Half-Blood Prince” earned $22.2 million. “Order of the Phoenix,” by contrast, earned $12 million from midnight shows when it also debuted on a Wednesday.

Pretty crazy, huh? I need to make a movie that brings in $400 million worldwide in a matter of five days!

The first thing that I want to say about this seventh and final installment of the Potter series is that the last 100 or so pages did exactly what the tens of millions of Harry Potter fans needed it to do: it wrapped up the loose ends and then gave a quick snapshot of 19 years into the future (more on that later). The brilliance of Rowling’s final chapters make the dissatisfaction of other finales become more pronounced…

One of the things that is especially well done in the final book is the story of Albus Dumbledore, his family history, and the introduction of his brother, Aberforth. The pesky Rita Skeeter makes her way back into the story as a filthy, low-down reporter once again. The climax of the Dumbledore storyline comes in two scenes, surprisingly. The first is when Aberforth meets Harry and explains his side of the story around his mother and sister’s deaths. The second is when Albus meets Harry in King’s Station after Harry is “killed” – or in proper terms – after Voldemort destroys the Horcrux hidden within Harry. More on that scene in a minute. I cite this scene specifically because it shows the younger fans of these novels that even the all-knowing, seemingly all-powerful, and inherently “good” character that was Albus Dumbledore had his flaws in life. A resentment towards his responsibilities as the oldest member of his family, a lust for ultimate power, and a predisposition towards telling half-truths are some of the many flaws in Albus. This is a great lesson for the reader as it shows that even the best of the best have their hidden secrets – this subplot made Albus Dumbledore more human.

Another part of the story was excellently written revolved around the Malfoy family and Dumbledore’s constant assertion throughout the series that love is the strongest force out there. Voldemort’s inability to understand this concept is displayed as he constantly bosses around Draco Malfoy in his mother and father’s presence after he takes over their home. Though it is not written, I suspect that the devolution of her son in front of her fellow Death Eaters awakens that deep magic that Lily Potter used to protect Harry when Voldemort attacked. One could guess that this deep magic is simply love, but that is for Rowling to talk about since these are her books and her creations. Narcissa’s betrayal against Voldemort is perfect story swerve that leads us to a magnificent final scene.

In this final scene, Voldemort is outside of a broken Hogwarts demanding that all surrender to him as he has the “dead” Harry Potter at his feet. Thanks to a few giant distractions and an onslaught attack by magical creatures including the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest, Harry is able to sneak away as the Second Battle of Hogwarts begins. These final scenes are satisfying for a few reasons from this point forward. First, you get four epic-style duels between the series’ good and evil characters. It begins with Voldemort dueling with Professors McGonagall and Slughorn and the Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. Finally, after seven books, these professors are allowed to show their true magical prowess! A second duel is taking place between Bellatrix Lestrange (who easily becomes the most evil witch on the planet during book seven) and Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley. When Ginny nearly dies from one of Bellatrix’s spells, Mrs. Weasley jumps in front of the girls yelling, “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!”

Easily the best line of the book – that instantly made Mrs. Weasley one of my favorite characters.

Mrs. Weasley goes on to kill Bellatrix in what had to be Rowling’s way of showing that the deep magic that is “love” will always overcome the lust and destruction that is evil. When Voldemort sees this, though, he is enraged and attempts to attack Mrs. Weasley, which leads to Harry revealing himself (and shocking everyone in the room). What follows next is brilliantly written as Harry shows his intelligence by logically proving that he is in possession of a stronger wand than Voldemort’s Elder Wand. When both wizards perform their “signature” spells, Harry’s logic proves true as he acquires Voldemort’s wand and kills him on the spot.

There are other magnificent scenes depicted in this book including the Gringott’s break-in and escape on the blind dragon, the torture of Hermione as Dobby saves the gang in the Malfoy basement, and the opening sequence when Hedwig dies as seven Harry Potters leave Privet Drive at the same time. Which brings me to another matter in this book and all of Rowling’s books – death of the supporting characters. While we are not hit with major deaths from any of the core group of characters, we are hit with Severus Snape, Fred Weasley, Colin Creevey, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and her father, Dobby, and Hedwig’s death in the final installment of the series. Other characters are killed including Minister Scrimegour and Bathilda Bagshot, but the big deaths in the book are really of Lupin, Tonks, and Fred (at least I think so).

Rowling showed another act of brilliance when she included an epilogue, showing the main characters 19 years into the future. As one could have predicted, Harry and Ginny Weasley are now married and have three children: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, and Lily Potter. It’s obvious who the children are named after. Ron and Hermione are also married with a child and we are also shown Draco Malfoy with his son. The most telling part of his appearance is the slight nod he gives Harry and Ron on the platform as their children board the train to Hogwarts. From my perspective, this shows the reader that the Death Eater movement is truly gone and that Malfoy has obviously learned the error of his ways. Good stuff.

Now, pulling myself out of the Harry Potter world for a minute, I think the true magnificence of Rowling’s final book is the fact that it is final and there is a definite ending. Unlike other major entertainment phenomena, the Harry Potter series has paid off for the fans who invested a decade’s worth of time, effort, and enthusiasm for the books. Rowling justly rewards Potter fans with a story that gets progressively “grown up” over the course of the seven books and a story that comes to a definitive ending. Not to mention that Rowling breaks with current trend of having some shady of gray be the ultimate winner. In the Harry Potter series, good clearly defeats evil and the heroes are rewarded with what appear to be full, healthy lives during the glimpse that we see 19 years after the final battle. It was actually a refreshing change to read such a decisive ending.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I give this book my highest recommendation and if you are not a Harry Potter fan, than I would recommend the entire series to you (even if you know what happens in the final pages of the final book). A job well done by J. K. Rowling.

This book, though, also brings more darkness into the series. As GGL would say, this is the darkest of the Harry Potter books (so far). From the twisted scene of the Longbottoms in St. Mungo’s to the fierce battle between the Order and the Death Eaters, this book at least has some gusto in terms of mixing it up a bit.

I can understand, for cinematic reasons, the need to include the Cho/Harry love spat. Yet, I sometimes think that these parts of the book get in the way of what could be a great story. Quite frankly, no one gives a hoot if Cho is mental because of Cedric dying and Harry is a real “git” when it comes to the ladies. But once again, I read this from a 25 year-old perspective when the general age group of Harry Potter readers is 10 years my younger, so this may be a moot point.

The length of the book is certainly something to consider when getting ready to read it. I came home for Thanksgiving with just a few things and this book was one of them. When I got home, I was less than halfway done with the book, yet last night (after dinner), I had so much free time that I actually finished the book. This is something to keep in mind – you need long, unused expanses of time to get a good reading session in with this book!

What else can I say about this book? It’s nice to get a view of Harry and Snape needing to work together, though I wonder how this will come across in the movie version of the story. Also, it was nice that we got the background on Sirius’ family and his relation to pretty much all of the “bad guys” since he comes from a family of dark wizards. Interesting stuff.

I thought the prophecy part at the end of the book left something to be desired. One has to die, right? Well, duh! Dumbledore’s speech was pretty good in terms of explaining a lot of the finer points of the previous 850+ pages!

For Harry Potter fans, I obviously have to recommend the book so you can continue reading the story. But in terms of storytelling, it seemed at times that Rowling wrote parts of the book so they would be good for a video game, parts that would be good for a movie, and parts that were too Da Vinci Code-esque. Yet, whenever I criticize her too much, I always remember two things. First, she’s writing for preteens and teenagers (though her original audience is now in their twenties). Second, the Harry Potter series is her first go-around with writing professionally in terms of mass publication. The exaggerations and over use of trickery are to be expected in what is essentially a novice’s writing.

All in all a decent book that advanced some storylines and moved the story forward.

The thing that really strikes you in terms of content in the first Harry Potter book is how badly he’s treated by the Dursleys. On top of that, the utter fear that people in the book have of Voldemort is well portrayed by author J.K. Rowling. I also think that as far as content goes, this book seems very elementary – which is OK! Whenever I hear some of the fraternity guys that I advise talking about Harry Potter, I always have to remind myself that today’s 18 – 22 year olds grew up reading this story. So it’s only natural that these guys would be talking about it like it’s second nature – just as it’s only natural that I would read this book and think that it’s written for young kids.

As far as the writing style, again, it’s elementary. That’s not a knock on Rowling, though. She wrote it VERY well in an elementary style and focused on details and character development like not many elementary books do. Overall it was a very well-written piece of literature.

And no one can deny the impact that this book had on the populous. People read this and went absolutely bonkers over Harry Potter and the entire world he lives in. It spawned successor books, movies, merchandising, and a ton of other Potter-related things. I enjoyed reading this book probably for the same reasons that many readers around the world enjoyed it – it was a nice, quick read that had a good story to go with it.

I’ll get some reviews of the movies up here on the blog at some point – be on the lookout. I recommend anyone who hasn’t read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to go out and get a copy (chances are any little kid on your street has a copy that you can borrow). You’ll enjoy it!