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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
3.5 out of 5
It's difficult to separate the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from the novel, but we'll do our best. We feel that this was not the smoothest of adaptations and with so much left out, it would be a bit difficult to follow. From here on in, there will be spoilers in our review - there really isn't any way to review this movie without spoiling it because it's an adaptation of an extremely successful novel and as a film, it has wonderful elements and terrible flaws. Essentially, at it's core, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is about the main characters making the transition from teenagers to young adults, Harry's prophetic battle with Voldemort (see the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and Harry and Dumbledore's exploration of Voldemort's past. This, too, is essentially what the novel is about, but the film version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is, essentially, the cliff notes for the novel.
What they left out:
The most prominent scenes left out from the novel include climactic battle in the castle between the Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix and some of the students, and Dumbledore's funeral. It's easy to guess that since a larger battle between these forces occurs in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the film makers didn't want to have any repitition between the films. Perhaps Dumbledore's funeral was left out beacuse it's a bit of a downer and it certinally would have been an expensive feet to pull off, AND the movie was running long as it is. But, this would have provided some closure for the characters and the audience that is sorely missing.
What they left in, but could have left out:
The most prominent elements that made the transition from the novel to the screen were Ron's elevation to Quidditch keeper and his subsequent play and Lavender Brown. While both of these elements flesh out the relationship between Ron and Herminie and the plot thread about the main characters making the transition from teenagers to young adults, it doesn't lend much to the plot, particularly since Ron is obviously not the keeper on the Quidditch team in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and we don't really recall Brown playing much of a part in Hallows, meaning, both threads are pretty much wrapped up before the climax of the book begins, so, while this is interesting in the book, it's just taking away screen time from the primary plot in the film.
What they changed:
The biggest change, which, in our mind, put a slightly different spin on the end, was Dubledore's death and the circumstances surrounding it and Snape's final confrontation with Harry before he escapes. In the novel, once Harry and Dumbledore arrive at the astronomy tower via broomstick (which you can't disaperitiate to in the novels because it is not possible to disaperitiate on the Hogwarts grounds in the novel, but this is explained away by Dumbledore in the film, "Being me has its privileges" or something like that), and once Dumbledore hear's someone coming, he has Harry hide under the invisibility cloak and he is then frozen there by Dumbledore and therefore sees what happens but can't do anything about it. In the film, he is below the scene and has a brief interaction with Snape, and this adds an element that Harry let the killer walk right past him, someone he never trusted, and could have done something to stop, but didn't. After Dumbledore is killed and Harry gives chase, they finally meet as Harry attempts to fight Snape, but Snape won't let him, and a dialogue ensues. In the movie, all Snape says, for the most part, is, "I am the Half Blood Prince," which doesn't really mean anything, since the roll of his copy of Advanced Potion Making is significantly reduced, but that wasn't really the subject of the conversation.
Another change was Harry hiding the Half Blood Prince's copy of Advances Potion Making in the room of requirement, now in some sort of storage mode. In the novel, Harry must hide the book after he casts Sectumsempra on Malfoy, but in the book, he makes a decision (pressured by his friends and lead by Ginny) after using the spell, and Ginny hides it for him so he won't know where it is. Pretty sure that in the book, he goes back for it later but can't find it.
Other missing elements and characters from the film:
There were no Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons with Snape, who taught them how to cast spells without speaking aloud. People do this a lot in the films, but here, it is finally explained and it's value as a technique. The Dursleys are also cut out the film, perhaps for time, as they are reminded that Harry must be able to call Privet Drive his home or the protection of his mother's sacrifice will be null, Dobby and Kreacher are cut, probably foremost because they are digital characters and they are expensive and the film makers spent a lot of money on Dumbledore's fire spell in Voldemort's cave, Bill Weasly and Fleur, who get married in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but we assume this is going to be cut from Hallows, because the Weasley's house is burned down in the middle of the film, and we don't remeber this being in the boook; Rufus Scrimgeour, who we assume they are cutting out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Gaunts, who are Voldemort's mother's family and this explains the ring that Dumbledore destroyed and injured his hand, Cornelius Fudge and the muggle Prime Minister, who explains the state of things now that Voldemort has revealed himself to the Wizarding world at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and introduced his replacement They also cut out the new Minister of Magic's failed recruitment of Harry at Christmas.