"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" Movie Review

Before you read, I have to warn you . . . spoilers abound here!

I had sworn I wasn't going to watch this movie. I had been seriously disappointed by the fifth movie (it was sooo lame!) and I had heard not-so-great things about HP6. But then I had to go, because I promised one of my friends I would take her. And you know what? It wasn't that bad.

I have to say, I think one of the reasons that I ended up liking the movie so much is that I read the book so long ago (Two years ago? Three?) that I wasn't constantly making book-to-movie comparisons in my head the whole time. I mean, I understood the really big things that had changed, a la burning the Burrow instead of having a huge final battle at Hogwarts, but I know there were other, numerous changes that just didn't even register on my mind. With the fourth and fifth movies, you would have been completely lost had you not read the book. Not so here, and the screenwriters deserve a lot of credit for that.

Let me just say straightaway that the best parts of this film are the scenes with Helena Bonham-Carter's Bellatrix Lestrange. She steals every scene shes in, and has the pretty-but-psychotic-and-evil witch character down with a close to scary perfection.

The other acting is pretty good, too. Bonnie Wright finally manages a decent performance as Ginny (I used to despise her, and her tiny roles in the past three movies didn't help that). Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood is also completely wonderful, she is the very definition of Luna and as much of a scene-stealer in her own way as Bonham-Carter is in hers. The three leads are, as usual, good actors, although my dislike for the characters somewhat hinders my appreciation for the acting. Tom Felton deserves special mention for his dead-on portrayal of Draco -- such a complex character to deal with, and Felton carries the role with ease.

The effects, the few that there were, were amazing. I was joking to one of my friends before the movie started that the main reason I wanted to watch HBP was to see the Millenium Bridge collapse (no offense to the bridge, but hey, I'm a CGI junkie xP). I also loved the new flying-Death-Eaters effect, which turns them into something like flying cannonballs with smoke tails. I spent a good while puzzling over how that would be possible, physically, before giving it up and just deciding "hey, it's magic." Other notable effects scenes are the numerous (okay, two or three) Dark Marks that appear in the clouds (I know it means evil is coming, but they look sooooo coooool!) and the whole end scene battling Inferi and getting pulled into lakes and conjuring fire, among other fun things. While the effects aren't on the same scale as, say, Transformers 2, they were carried out quite well.

Now, on to the not-so-great. I was worried from the beginning when I saw the movie was getting away with a PG rating (I'm one of those weird people who's of the belief that if it's a Harry Potter movie with a number from 3 - 7, you should have a PG13 rating or lose a lot of what the book is about). And I was even less happy when I heard from some of my friends that basically the entire battle scene at the end was deleted. And it is, really, Snape kills Dumbledore (basically, he walks into the room, says a few words, points his wand at Dumbledore, and says "avada kedavara"), then all the Death Eaters just leave. I mean, Harry throws a few curses at Snape, but that's not a battle, not really. Bellatrix's penchant for throwing fireballs around, a collapsing bridge, and a few zombie-like and regular dead people do not come anywhere close to the level of darkness in the book. Wider audience and all that . . . but it's a shame to see such good parts just left out.

Second, the film focuses on relationships a lot -- and I'll even go so far as to say too much. As the Harry Potter series progresses, its supposed to get darker, filled with more Death Eaters, more destruction, more death, more students leaving the school. Where was all of that? Instead of hearing of Amelia Bones' death, we get one more scene of Ron and Lavender snogging, is that it? That's certainly the trend this film takes. I don't want to see more teenage romance drama, there's enough of that on the TV these days. On the other hand, the Harry/Ginny romance was toned down, and I appreciated that (I hate hate hate that pairing. It's so contrived and Ginny is farrrrr too good for Harry, if you want my opinion).

Now, I understand that things must be cut (it's a 400+ page book, after all) but I think there could have been better choices made as to what to keep. The supporting characters -- and even some of the main characters -- fall by the wayside. How many scenes did Neville Longbottom appear in? One: he was serving food at Slughorn's party. Cormac McLaggen gets more screen time than that! Where's Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Seamus Finnigan, the Patil twins? Gone. And that's sad, because those are some of my favorite characters. Also notably missing is Dumbledore's funeral and his huge tomb, although I understand how budget constraints might have forced the tomb out of the movie ;). But the final salute to Dumbledore -- when every student and teacher raised their lit wands around Dumbledore's body -- was more than a fitting substitute, and intensely powerful . . . first time I've cried in a HP film, I have to say.

Overall, a pretty good movie that often delves into pure silliness but that stays far truer to the book than the past few movies have.