I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in IMAX this afternoon. The first fifteen minutes or so were in 3D, which looked a lot better than I expected. I'm a little disappointed that 3D goggles no longer have the cool red and blue lens, but at least the current models are really big and oversized, so I feel like one of the robots from Naoki Urasawa's Pluto. Even for a matinee with a student discount it cost $11.50. I used to be able to see movies in Japan for less than that as long as I went after eight at night.

The movie itself was very well-done. The usual actors do a good job, and I've realized that I like movie Harry better than book Harry, not that that's particularly difficult. Ron felt underused in the movie, but that's not a far cry from the books. He's played mostly for comic relief, while most of the drama is left to Hermione and Harry. This is particularly jarring in the last scene, where Harry and Hermione have a deep, dramatic conversation and Ron just sits there on the stairs in the background like he's waiting for a bus. Alan Rickman is once again excellent as Snape; there are some scenes where his deadpan facial expression and line delivery are used to great effect. Unfortunately, in the movie's most damning flaw, his best line in the book is cut, which severely hurts the film's climax. I was really looking forward to seeing him cut lose and show Snape losing control, but it never happens. It was a very poor choice on the part of the filmmakers. Tom Felton plays Draco well, and I think the Draco subplot works better in the movie than in the book. There are still some melodramatic "Emo Draco is Emo" scenes, not that they aren't in keeping with the tone of the book.

Jim Broadbent was a fitting choice for Slughorn and he makes the character feel very natural. It's a bit strange to realize that I've been watching him in films since Moulin Rouge. Chocolate-rape McPedostache makes a brief appearance, mostly to bitch out Harry for not trusting Dumbledore, so good on him. He's there with Tonks, WHICH RUINS ALL OF MY FANFIC! As does Blaise Zabini being portrayed as a man, of course. Anything that makes extreme Potter fangirls unhappy is a good thing in my book. Interesting thought-exercise: for years it was rumored that Snape was half-vampire. What if Snape was half-Twilight vampire? The fic writes itself. Bellatrix LeStrange is again disturbingly attractive, and Fenrir Greyback is there, but not emphasized nearly as much as in the book. In the movie, it's not even clear that he's a werewolf.

Now, since I can't let a Harry Potter movie pass without some juvenile and inappropriate sexual commentary, Harry totally gets cockblocked by both Dumbledore and some Deatheaters. And make no mistake, that muggle waitress was way hotter than Ginny. I guess Harry's just got a thing for the gingers. Once again, lots of shots of Harry taking long walks in isolated places with a teacher or hanging out with them after hours in their darkly lit office with alcohol nearby, although I don't think Slughorn has the energy to give Harry the same workout as Lupin. But he has a thorough knowledge of potions, which I'm sure has many uses... And then there's the scene when Dumbledore makes Harry promise to do ANYTHING he says without question... And when Draco closes all the windows and doors in the Hogwarts Express car so that he and Harry are completely alone...By this point we're heard it all before. It all seems kind of passe. The age of Potter is over, and a new dark aeon has dawned. The current reigning champion of young adult fantasy lit is a stupider and more sparkly beast.