Now Playing: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Years ago, I made a promise to myself as I walked out of the theatre after watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: I would not compare the movies to the books. In fact, I would treat them as two separate entities. After all, it's not fair to compare Rowling's septological epic to the Potter franchise of movies; there is simply no way to pack in the kind of detail you find in the novels into a two (or even three) hour movie. I had also decided that I would never complain about what's been left out as long as the spirit of the books were kept sacrosanct.

Yesterday, I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (HPVI). Poppets, you are either a fan and have watched the movie or you're not and you haven't. Either way, you ought not care but I shall warn you anyway: spoilers abound below. Also, please excuse the rambling nature… I have so many thoughts and no seemingly logical way to order them.

Half-Blood Prince is one of my favourite HP books, mostly because it features my favourite character from the series, the awesome Severus Snape. It's also the book that sees one of the biggest battles in the series (Hogwarts v Death Eaters), the culmination of two beautifully drawn-out romances (Ginny/Harry & Ron/Hermione), the creepiest scene thus far (inferi= eww) and, of course, the death of the Headmaster. So much more happens, but I thought if these four things could be dealt with in a respectable way, I would be quite happy.

Enter last night. I hadn't watched the movie with everyone else two weeks ago because I wanted to wait for the 3D experience. The 3D was pretty well done - lots of neat tricks and visual effects. Unfortunately, the opportunity was completely squandered by using all twelve minutes right at the beginning… I mean, NOTHING happens in the beginning! Well, not at the beginning of the book, at any rate. The HPVI team decided to add a scene at the beginning, departing for the first time from the tradition of Harry Potter as witness (both in movies and books) - last night, I saw scenes that Harry himself did not. Didn't like that, but the flashy 3D distracted me enough.

Before I go any further, let's get something straight. Half-Blood Prince was not an action-packed book (like Goblet of Fire or even Order of the Phoenix); in truth, I thought this book was the most introspective of the lot and had much more quiet substance than flashy theatrics. Inferi and Hogwarts battle aside (we'll come back to that), this is a book about another book (a defaced potions book at that… not even a cursed book that bites people). So, yes, I was expecting a "slower" movie, but one that really developed Snape's character (as he is so pivotal) and relied on emotion over explosion.

Well, colour me surprised when the HPVI team decided to add yet something else: the Battle at the Burrow. Smack dab in the middle of the movie there's a pointless exchange of curses that does absolutely nothing to drive the plot forward and, despite burning down the Burrow, no one ever mentions it again - neither Ron nor Ginny, for whom the burrow is home nor Harry for whom the Burrow represents asylum from the Dursleys. What? What is the point, man?

At this point, I'm slightly annoyed. I remember reading that there were time constraints and that's why many pivotal scenes were left out or altered. So, how is there time to add two flashy, big-budget scenes?

Flash-forward to the end of the movie, where we see Snape do in Dumbledore. It's only a credit to Madame Pomfrey that I even teared up, otherwise this scene was too abrupt and far too quick. No funeral? No Fawkes' lament? No White Tomb? It was terrible. Just terrible. And then, everyone just runs away - no battle at all between the old DA (which the previous movie had taken such pains to establish), the Aurors and Professors versus Death Eaters. This is where we could have used some big budget money, dammit! While I didn't absolutely hate the way this scene was treated, I think the no-funeral thing really put me in a foul mood.

You know where else we could have used some cool 3D tech? The Inferi/Cave scene… how cool would that have been to see the undead lunge out at you (instead of a stuffed chair).

Finally: the characters. It's really a credit to the casting director from the original HPI who found these kids. I believe Harry, Ron and Hermione. I totally buy all the Weasleys, actually. And Draco… wow, Tom Felton has really come into his own. I mean, he looked like a wreck: he was pale, he was nervous.. even his trademark Malfoy-sneer was dimmed. Michael Gambon finally seemed to channel the gentler side of Dumbledore that I felt he was always missing (it's too bad the costuming decided to make him into Gandalf in the process). And, of course, Alan Rickman is simply stellar, despite being seriously underutilised. I mean, we've waited six movies for Snape to become a DADA teacher and we don't even get ONE scene with him teaching? That's ridiculous. The real saving grace of this whole debacle was definitely Jim Broadbent's Slughorn. Though he looks nothing like the walrus-like man described by Rowling, I think Broadbent really did the best job in portraying the puffed-up, self-aggrandising professor who lives vicariously through the glories of his former students while having to live with the dire consequences of one particular Slug Club member.

So, what I'm about to say actually has no bearing on the actors' or their abilities.
…I just did not buy the blossoming of the Ginny/Harry romance. I had thought that they should have done a better job of laying the foundations in HPV (making Ginny roll her eyes at Cho just once would have done the trick), but they almost did nothing to build it up in HPVI. The book is so subtle in how it develops…but wait, I promised not to talk about the book. The movies have never hinted an attraction to Ginny on Harry's part (HPII at least had a very shy Ginny around Harry) and suddenly he's all in love. What? And while Ron and Hermione finally seemed to open that door, the end of the movie has Ron not "remembering" his calling out Hermione's name in the hospital and they've done nothing to pursue. Again: what?

So, back to original checklist: very little Snape, no Hogwarts Battle, an abbreviated Dumbledore death scene, and two lacklustre romances have left a very bitter taste in my mouth. And this from a movie that I thought would have been the easiest to bring to the big screen, what with it being character-driven? The only thing that was done well was the Inferi scene, but I think it's because someone went through great lengths to reproduce the cover art from the UK/Canadian versions. Boo. It pains me a great deal to do this: 3 out of 5 stars.