Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince film… eh.

I saw the latest movie installment Wednesday night. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at first, but now that I’ve had a handful of days to ponder over it, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was by far the most disappointing film yet. I would still recommend all Potter lovers to watch it (how can you not), because there are some good aspects about it (and the cinematography is awesome), but for most part, don’t get your hopes up and don’t have high expectations. I knew they were going to leave out a bunch of stuff (they always do), but I feel like their decision-making was quite poor this time around.

If you haven’t seen the movie and/or read the book and don’t want to be spoiled… then don’t keep reading.

So where to begin? Yes, the movie left out a lot. But usually this is fine, as the previous movies were good, standalone movies that were still entertaining and had a good plot line, even for those who had never read the books. The HBP was lacking in a solid story line to follow… it’s as if nothing really happens in the movie. The book centers around the mysterious Half-Blood Prince (Harry grows in awe of the HBP, even to a point of idolizing, but who is he, is he Harry’s father?), the facts behind Voldemort’s troubled past (memories dedicated to learning about his grandfather, his mother and uncle, how he became obsessed with dark magic, revenge, collecting “trophies”, and ultimately immortality, how his past has influenced his current personality and outlook), and the Horcruxes and realizing what Harry must do to end the magical war (and ultimately end the series). By the end of the book, you know (basically) what all the Horcruxes are, and you learn about all the reasons why Voldemort has become who he has become. You learn that Snape is the Half-Blood Prince, which is a more significant realization in the book because of all the mystery that was built up to it. And of course, Dumbledore’s death, the person that has been there for Harry throughout the series and has taught Harry so much, has led him along through all the learnings of the Horcruxes and Voldemort’s past… the book pretty much finalizes his death (no, he is NOT secretly alive and coming back), and Harry realizes that he is alone in his endeavor to finish Voldemort, that he cannot rely on Dumbledore anymore. In the last few pages of the book, Harry grows up a LOT.

Then there’s the whole Snape-killed-Dumbledore bit, where by the end of the book we really do hate Snape, we really think he’s evil and horrible and has tricked Dumbledore. Yes, there are a few subtle hints as to his true allegiance, and I remember thinking there was more to it than meets the eye, but you were surprised when it happened. It was shocking to think of Harry Potter without Dumbledore. Snape being the Half-Blood Prince, whom Harry idolized but also hates because he is Snape, and loathes even more after the killing. Learning that Snape was the one who overheard the prophecy when it was made and was the one who ran to Voldemort to tell him of the prophecy - he was the one that delivered the message that ultimately caused the deaths of Harry’s parents. Snape’s character is so important in the outcome of the series, and the HBP book set it up that way.

The film took out most of the memories about Voldemort’s past and story, didn’t spend much time on Horcruxes, and barely touched on the Half-Blood Prince - all the things that made the HBP story interesting and significant. It was almost as if you couldn’t understand why the title of the whole story was called the HBP. And Snape’s bare-mention of him being the Half-Blood Prince at the end of the film, almost too casually, even made it worse. It was almost like it was just thrown in there because it was important, but the viewers didn’t actually know why it was so important. Of course, Snape’s character was not developed at all, and it’ll be interesting to see how the last two movies will go about Snape’s character, especially how important he becomes. I was also appalled that so much time was spent on the whole romance bit, even more appalled that the Burrow attack scene was ADDED (did NOT happen in the book)… why did they do that, when they could’ve used that time to include more memories, or explain the Horcruxes, or anything else? The HBP is a complex book with a ton of character development and so much backstory and story, most of which was eliminated in the film. Perhaps they were concerned of the “lack of action” that the movie would have - adding an action scene to make it “more interesting” and focusing more on teenage romance which appeals to younger audiences - but I feel like that was a cop-out. Perhaps the decisions were made to make a better movie, but in fact they made it worse. I don’t know, I feel like if I hadn’t read the books I would be completely lost in the film, with all its randomness and piecemealing of facts.

The film did do a good job with Malfoy’s character, and I thought the opening action sequence with the bridge in London and the cave/lake scene were very good. Especially the cave/lake scene - it was almost an exact duplicate of how I imagined the scene to be in my head when I read the book. But all in all, it was a disappointment.