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It’s pretty damn difficult to review this film without reference to the novel, but considering I read that about 4 years ago and haven’t revisited it I don’t know how accurate my comparison between the two will be.  What I can say for sure is that the Harry Potter books get better as they get darker, and that the Half-Blood Prince is my favourite of all the books.

So how does it compare to the book?  Pretty good actually.  There are of course some changes and omissions. but for the most part the movie contains all the essential parts of the book and only changes a few things which don’t really affect the story too much.  In fact, the only thing which I can pinpoint which has been changed is the final confrontation at Hogwarts between the Death Eaters, Malfoy, Snape, and Dumbledore.  From memory the book had this taking place around the perimeter of Hogwarts with Dumbledore casting a freezing spell on Harry so that he wouldn’t get involved.  The film has this taking place in a clock tower and Harry observes the encounter from a lower floor.  Not too big a deal but I don’t see why that needed to be changed.

Another complaint is that I didn’t think there were enough flashbacks to Tom Riddle’s childhood and his time at Hogwarts.  Once again I thought there was far more insight into Riddle’s evolution into Voldemort in the book and I would have liked to have seen this in the film.  I realise that concessions need to be made when adapting a book but I thought this was one of the central parts of the book and was actually pretty excited to see it up on the screen.  Whilst I’m on the subject of Riddle/Voldemort, it’s worth noting that he doesn’t appear in the film at all.  I can’t remember if he had much of a part in the book outside of the flashbacks, but I’m sure he appeared at least once in a more adult form.  Oh well.

Another important aspect of the books is that aside from getting darker as they progress, the kids also get a lot hornier, and that plays an important part in the film.  In fact, there’s a fair chunk of the film taken up by Ron’s relationship with some girl, Hermione’s jealousy over this and Ron’s ignorance of that, and Harry’s growing relationship with Ginny.  It actually all plays out pretty nicely and doesn’t become too melodramatic.  One of my favourite parts comes when Harry and Ginny go to the Room of Requirement to hide Harry’s potions book and they share a tender moment.  I thought it was gonna be awkward to watch but it came across as quite touching.  Overall I think the romance element of the book was carried across well but without it taking over the movie, which I have to say I was not expecting.

As I mentioned, I think the darker the story is the better the movie is for it, and this is certainly the darkest of the movies so far.  Of particular note is the sequence where Harry and the gang see a girl get cursed after touching a necklace.  I was very surprised by how this was presented onscreen, but was extremely glad that it was dealt with in such a stark and scary manner.  I was in a theatre full of kids and when this sequence occured there was actual silence in the cinema.  That was one of just a few occasions when they didn’t feel the need to talk to each other, so I think the scene played as it was intended.

My only real concern after seeing the Half-Blood Prince is whether or not there will be a decent payoff for Snape in the final installment.  In fact, I’ve had this concern since the first film when they decided to omit a conversation between Dumbledore and Harry concerning Snape.  He is a central character in the seven books and this is finally revealed in all it’s beauty in The Deathly Hallows, and I’m just hoping and praying that they don’t leave out any of Snape’s story.  The chapter towards the end of The Deathly Hallows which reveals the body of Snape’s story is probably the best chapter in all of the books and it would be a crying shame for this to be edited down.  I guess we’ll all find out in two years time when Part 2 of The Deathly Hallows opens in theatres.

CONCLUSION
A distinct reduction in the importance of the actual Half-Blood Prince was really annoying, and the lame one line reveal at the end of the film about who the Prince is was equally terrible.  Harry and Dumbledore’s search for the Horcrux was done really well.  As was the romantic element of the story.  Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) was VERY good as the scared and conflicted kid charged with a duty by Voldemort, and was easily the best of the young actors.  I was really happy to see Helena Bonham Carter had more screen time than in previous installments.  The death of Dumbledore left me completely unmoved.  I’m not sure if that’s because I knew it was coming, but it just left me cold.  Not to mention the complete lameness of the staff and students holding their wands high and the tips lighting up when they surround Dumbledore’s body.  It instantly reminded me of a concert where everyone holds up their lighter.  It was almost laugh out loud in it’s shitness.  All in all The Half-Blood Prince was a good installment in the Harry Potter franchise but nothing special as a movie outside of this.

FINAL GRADE: C+