Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) by Cindyc — 16 Jul 2009

A better title for this movie would be "Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Plot". Important storylines are altered beyond recognition, barely touched upon or missing altogether, while trivial points that do not advance the story are dwelled on at length.

Apparently it was more important to introduce a hypothetical waitress for Harry to flirt with at the beginning of the film than to retain the climactic battle between Death Eaters and Order members at the end.

The spirit of what was already one of the more forgettable installments in the Potter series has been lost. The film does boast some highlights, including strong performances by Jim Broadbent, Tom Felton and the always-superb Alan Rickman.

For every Slughorn, Draco or Snape, however, there's a Ginny Weasley, who is incapable of showing emotion even when sharing a first kiss with Harry. Other major characters (McGonnagal, Hagrid) are reduced to mere window dressing.

While the film is visually stunning in places, the musical score matches Ginny Weasley's acting for blandness.. I can still hum music from the first four movies but can't recall a note from Half-Blood Prince -- and I saw the movie yesterday.

Perhaps the most aggregious sin of this disappointing film is the ending, which has been gutted beyond recognition. Those who were looking forward to the battle between Death Eaters and Order members, or the tender scene between a greviously wounded Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, will be cruelly disappointed.

What is left is an emotionless and rushed confrontation between Harry and Snape that is so poorly directed that the revelation regarding Snape at the end of Book 7 can be anticipated. I understand that one cannot remain 100% faithful when adapting books like this to film.

However, decisions should remain true to the spirit of the book. (A superb example of this is Prizoner of Azkaban, still the best of the Potter films.) The screenwriter and director involved in Half-Blood Prince clearly don't get it, unfortunately.

Their decision-making reminds me of scenes from the movie The Majestic, where film executives propose script changes that are increasingly ridiculous. "I've got a 'what if'...'" What if the screenwriter and director had left the ending of Half-Blood Prince intact? Then this would have been a much better film.

I shudder to think that Book 7 is being handed to this same team.