Contains spoilers.
There was a long wait between Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince but it finally arrived this week. I was at the first public screening at 9am (but rest assured I didn't dress up!). I re-read the book last week and was worried that the film would disappoint by leaving out several parts of the book. I was also worried that some of the scenes would be sanitized (including the part when Malfoy stamps on Harry breaking his nose and covering him in his invisibility cloak, and the Sectumsempra curse which leaves deep gashes in Malfoy).
But I also went into the film knowing that it is a genre all of its own and not to get too caught up in whether it follows the book.
In my view this movie was the best of the six so far. The film captured the mood and spirit of the book, the actors had matured, the effects were better, and there were some magic moments including the death of Dumbledore, the casting of Ron's love interest, the cave scene, the casting of Tom Riddle junior (times 2) and the way the pensieve scenes were filmed. I also love Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman in their respective roles. They did include the scenes of Malfoy stamping on Harry and Sectumsempra (although not as graphically as in the book). I also thought they started the film well, reminding the audience of what has just happened at the end of the fifth movie (the death of Sirius Black and the confirmed return of Voldemort).
But there were of course a few disappointments too. The pensieve memories (these were some of the most significant parts of the book) were missing.
- How Tom's mother used a love potion on Tom Riddle senior (which compliments in the book the Hogwarts students learning about love potions and the themes around love and lust in the book), and the Riddles being the last of the pure-blood Slytherin line.
- The role of the "special items" which later become Horcruxes (and the context around that).
- Tom killing his father, grandparents, and framing his uncle for their murder.
And I was disappointed that Harry simply went down stairs and watched Dumbledore being murdered (not in the nature of Harry filmmakers!) rather than Dumbledore casting a spell to immobilize Harry and putting the invisibility cloak around him - thereby forcing Harry not to interfere, but also giving Malfoy time to disarm Dumbledore.
But the film would probably need to be an extra hour or more in order to fit all of that in, and that was never going to happen!
So while there were some disappointments in comparing the book and the movie it was a good movie in its own right, and the best of the six so far. Now we just have to wait another year and a half for the next installment!
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