Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) by Will N — 05 Aug 2014

Spoiler alert: Snogging, more snogging, Dumbledore dies, and snogging. That is essentially the plot of this movie. However, "The Half-Blood Prince" novel is much more sophisticated than that. Yet, for some reason, this film chooses to focus on the drama of teenage love, which is a big problem for me. I mean, sure, that stuff is in the book, but there is no where near as much emphasis on it. In fact, this film feels more like a rom-com, rather than a Harry Potter film.

Now, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit, but the lovey-dovey stuff does take up a considerable portion of this movie. That time would've been better used for more scenes of Harry, Dumbledore, and the Pensieve. The Pensieve scenes are all of equally vital importance. To leave some of them out was a poor choice, I think.

However, I am not saying that "The Half-Blood Prince" is a bad movie. In fact, the parts of the movie that aren't love scenes are really great. Harry in Potions class and Harry using the Liquid Luck are both great scenes. I personally was glad to see the return of Quidditch, which was absent from the last two films. And best of all is the finale where Harry and Dumbledore go to fetch the Horcrux. It is by far my favorite scene in the movie because of how eerie, suspenseful, and sinister it is.

All in all, this is another great outing for Potter. If they would've downplayed the romance a bit, it would've been a better film (but of course, they were competing with Twilight...). Nevertheless, I still recommend The Half-Blood Prince because it lays the foundation for the epic, two-part finale; The Deathly Hallows.