Half-Blood Prince Review

Yep, I was there. At midnight. With everyone else. Now I only had four hours of sleep and I seem to be having trouble thinking so if I get incoherent, I apologize. I warn you, there will be spoilers. Lots and lots of spoilers. Even a few from Deathly Hallows, but if you haven't read that by now I don't know why you're here. GO! READ! NOW! (It's my favorite one of the series.)

General Overview: *screams* IT WAS AWESOME! Hands down, best one yet. Unless you're my mother who didn't particularly like it and only gave it a 5/10. I gave it a 9/10. Which is weird because usually it would be the other way around, but that's beside the point.

Non-Spoiler Comments: They could've followed the book closer is all I'm going to say. I'm glad that I didn't read it prior to seeing the movie because then I probably would've had a lot more to complain about on the way home. They seemed to vaguely follow the book's plot, but as for most of the story it didn't. The acting was great as always especially with Snape and Hermione. I love them, even if I did want to murder Snape for about a year between the books.

Things They Added:

• Well, the first scene they added is at the very beginning in the train station with the little muggle girl that Harry apparantly had a crush on. I thought it was cute, but unnecessary and my mom just hated it and thought it was stupid.
• The whole thing with the fish that Lily had given Slughorn was just weird. I'm still trying to figure out what the writer was thinking when they wrote that.
• Then there's a part -- which isn't even really a spoiler because you can go to imdb.com and watch the clip -- where Bellatrix comes to the Burrow during Christmas and lure everyone out and then she and Greyback destroy their house. I have no idea where that came from or how it fits into the story at all. I suppose the director has a plan (he better because that's so far from the book there HAS to be an excellent reason for it.)
• And finally the scene where Cormac throws up on Snape's shoes....Brilliant. It's now my favorite added scene out of all the movies.

Things They Cut Out:

• No Dumbledore's funeral. I was expecting this one because I read it on a spoiler site (what do you know, it was right). I was sad about it, but I think the ending was good enough that they didn't really need it. Or maybe that was just my desire not to cry my eyes out. I'm saving up tears for the 7th movies.
• There was no real battle at Hogwarts. They just kind of killed Dumbledore and ran. Of course there was the part where Bellatrix was running through the Great Hall (shown in trailers), but other than that nothing.
• After Ginny and Harry's kiss, there wasn't much about them dating or anything. Prior to it you knew that they were starting to get closer, but there wasn't much focus on it. Which was weird because the movie really was focusing more on the relationships than anything else.
• Then he didn't break up with her at the end. I'm thinking they're going to do that in the beginning of the next movie and my mom's thinking they're not going to have him break up at all (she's pessimistic when it comes to the next movies).
• There was only a little Tonks and Lupin and there they made it sound like they were already dating. Which made me kind of sad because I love how they end up together in the book. And of course there's the whole thing with them having a baby in the next movie. Which I hope they have.
• There was no Bill or Fleur so I'm not sure how they're going to get married in the next movie. And if they don't get married, that means the Death Eaters can't come to break up the wedding. Oh and that means Harry can't go to their house after they escape from Lucius and Dobby dies.
• There was also nothing about the Dursleys so it remains to be seen if they'll be back for the next movie. Though that WAS kind of important you know.
• They left out the part where Mundungus was stealing from Harry. Which is VERY important because that's how Umbridge got the locket in the first place!
• They left out Sirius's will and Kreacher. Which is also important in the next movie. Seriously, did the writers actually read the last book before they wrote this or did they just wing it? Why is it that the writers always seem to cut out the details that are important later in the story and add things that have no relevance whatsoever?
• They left out Dumbledore's wish for Harry to return to the Dursleys. Which is the main reason why I think they're going to leave that part out in the next movie too. But then how is George going to lose an ear and Moody and Hedwig die?
• They also cut the part where Dumbledore talks to Harry when he drops him off at the Burrow. In fact, in the movie, Harry went in alone and they weren't even expecting him.
• There's no mention of Arthur's promotion, Fudge being sacked, OR the Minister of Magic trying to recruit him. I really didn't care, but it was something I noticed afterwards.
• There's nothing about Snape's DADA classes in the movie.
• The whole bit with Hagrid mad at them was cut out. Which I didn't really care because I always thought he was being rather stupid.
• They left out the memory where Tom murders his father.
• Completely left out apparition classes and tests. Which is how they get around through the whole seventh book.
• Dobby and Kreacher don't trail Malfoy. In fact, neither of them is mentioned. They've only had house elves in the movies twice and that was Dobby in the second and Kreacher in the fifth. Everything else that Dobby did for Harry they had someone else do. So who's going to save Harry's life and die for him if it's not Dobby?
• No memory with the cup and locket. That's very important too, I don't know how they're going to get away with that one.
• They left out the part where Dumbledore talks about what the next Horcruxes are. Which is stupid because how are they going to know what to look for? How are they going to know that they need to kill the snake?
• Harry wasn't cursed while Dumbledore was being killed. Which only makes his guilt worse because he knew he could've stopped it if he'd just done something.

Parts I Loved:

• The part where Ron takes the love potion. He did some awesome acting in that scene. Brilliant and hilarious!
• The Sectumsempra scene was very good. It's probably my least favorite scene for the book, but Draco did some awesome acting.
• The Horcrux memory was very well done as well. They could've made Tom a little more charming, but it was very good nonetheless.
• The Inferi were very good as well. Very scary, I admit I jumped when the one in the water grabbed him and I was expecting it.
• Oh and Harry on the lucky potion was very funny too.
• And finally where Ron and Harry were lying in bed talking about what Dean saw in Ginny was definitely an awesome scene to be added. Very funny and cute.
• Ginny and Harry's kiss. I've been looking forward to that for ten months now. Though it was nothing like the book, it was still very cute.

Other Things They Seemed to Have Forgotten While Writing:

• This was probably the thing I'm most ticked about. There is no stone in the ring. I didn't care that they said it was his mother's instead of his uncle's. But there should've been a stone, HELLO it's the Ressurrection Stone! One of the Deathly Hallows! I'm not exactly sure how you're going to have Harry uniting the Deathly Hallows if one of them isn't even where it's supposed to be!
• Like I said earlier, they also seemed to forget that Harry can't just go running all over the world looking for random objects without knowing what he's looking for! They didn't even bother to mention that Voldemort would only choose objects that meant something to him.

Okay, I'm done. :) It was a good movie, but they seem to have some major problems with it. I'm very curious to see how they fill up those gaps. Anyone know when the next movie comes out so I can start counting down the days?