#107 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the last year that Harry, Ron, and Hermione attend Hogwarts - not because it is their final year and they are graduating, but because the Dark Lord has built an army and they are no longer safe at Hogwarts. In the students' sixth year at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy has been burdened with a very horrible task: to kill Albus Dumbledore. He tries several times to curse him, but his efforts fail. His mother, Narcissa, makes The Unbreakable Vow with Severus Snape to ensure that Draco is protected. The Unbreakable Vow is just that...unbreakable. Snape is forced to carry out Draco's task, and Dumbledore is killed while Harry watches. The Half-Blood Prince is the point in Harry's journey where everything starts to turn dark. However, in this film, the darkness has bits of light as the students are starting to date and fall in love. Ginny begins dating Dean Thomas, Ron begins dating Lavender Brown, Hermione realizes her true feelings for Ron, and Harry realizes his true feelings for Ginny. The story is overloaded with love everywhere. Amidst the love and relationships, Harry stumbles upon a Potions book with the inscription "Property of the Half-Blood Prince." It has little notes and cheats in the margins of each page, and it helps Harry excel to the top of the class. He eventually discovers that the Half-Blood Prince is Professor Snape - which makes Harry's distrust in Snape grow even more. Not only has Snape killed Dumbledore, but he also has a book filled with awful spells for enemies. By the end of the film, Hogwarts has been infiltrated by Bellatrix and the Deatheaters, which leaves Harry with a thirst for revenge. His goal is to end Lord Voldemort's reign.
I have mixed feelings about this movie. The book is my absolute favorite, and I think that's why I am not that big of a fan of the movie. There were so many interesting and crucial story lines left out of the screenplay. Ones that connect Harry back to Dobby, and it even shows that the Black family's house-elf, Kreacher, has a soft-spot for Harry. There's a scene in the book where Harry asks the two house-elves to spy on Draco - to find out what he is up to. Sadly, Dobby and Kreacher are nowhere to be found in the film. House-elves in general are completely removed from any of the films. I think Hermione's S.P.E.W efforts would have translated well to film, and it would've made the audiences feel a bigger connection to Dobby when he is killed in the final book/film. The directors and writers made an awful decision to keep Dobby out of the films. We see him briefly in Chamber of Secrets, and then he doesn't pop up again until Deathly Hallows: Part II. When he dies, the audience members not familiar with the books question why it matters that Dobby died. They feel no connection to him at all, and that is a tragedy.
I also do not like how much love and relationships they shove at us in this film. All of a sudden every student at Hogwarts is lusting for one another, and it is extremely awkward. In the other films, the relationships seemed realistic and they weaved them in with the rest of the story...in Half-Blood Prince, the relationships overshadow the story. It's a bit jarring that the students are more focused on dating and snogging than getting to class or worrying about Voldemort's return. I'm sorry, if Voldemort has returned, why are Harry, Ron, and Hermione...or any students for that matter...allowed to walk on their own to Hogsmeade? That's a JK Rowling issue mostly though because that's written in the books as well. Katie Bell is given a cursed necklace while at the Three Broomsticks...did we not expect that things like this would happen since the Dark Lord has an army stalking the grounds at all times? I hate to criticize JK, but it's true. I never realized that flaw until I watched the film and analyzed it. They take extra precautions to seal up the gates entering Hogwarts, yet the students are allowed to roam freely in Hogsmeade? Uh no. There might be protection spells all around Hogsmeade as well, which would explain why they're allowed to roam, but seriously? He's the Dark Lord, pretty sure he can penetrate that protection if he really wanted to. I'm probably wrong, but let me at least pretend I'm correct.
Next thing I was not very happy about was the cutting of the apparation/disapparation classes. In the book, sixth years begin to learn the art of apparation - which allows them to travel from one place to another quickly. Learning this skill is imperative because Ron, Hermione, and Harry use it over and over again in Deathly Hallows when they are in hiding. How can they apparate if they've never learned it? It's something that was not included in this film, and it really needed to be. It would've added a lightness to the darkness of the film that the writers/directors were looking for, which would allow them to cut back on the god-awful relationship stories...and the corny dialogue.
Here are several other issues I have with this film:
1) Harry apparates to Bubbly Babberton with Dumbledore at the beginning of the film by touching his arm - this makes sense because Harry hasn't learned to do that yet. However, when he leaves the town to go to The Burrow, Harry arrives alone...that is impossible. Harry was touching Dumbledore's arm, so that means Dumbledore should've arrived with Harry at The Burrow.
2) When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are joking about Dumbledore's age in Ron's room, Harry is using his wand to levitate a burning piece of newspaper...impossible again. He is a student using magic outside of Hogwarts. Only students over the age of 17 are allowed to use magic outside of school. Harry has just turned 16.
3) Instead of Harry yelling "Stupefy" at Fenrir Greyback in the swamp, they should have had him yell "Expelliarmus" which is Harry's trademark spell. That is how the Deatheaters know it is the real Harry in Deathly Hallows when they are chasing everyone through London.
4) Legimens and Occlimancy are just dropped entirely. Dumbledore had Snape teach Harry that skill for a reason. It is mentioned once in Order of the Phoenix, and then never brought up again. Occlumancy is how Harry learns to block out Voldemort from his thoughts, which plays a major role when the trio is on the run in Deathly Hallows. It upsets me that all of these major plot points are never addressed in Half-Blood Prince - seeing as Deathly Hallows is the end.
5) There is not enough relationship determined between Tonks and Remus Lupin. Tonks and Lupin get married and have a child. This isn't EVER clearly defined in any of the final movies. So, when Tonks and Lupin die in the Battle of Hogwarts in the final film/book, the audience doesn't even care. The writers missed an incredible opportunity to have the audience care majorly for two amazing characters.
6) Dumbledore says, "Being me has its privileges" when he apparates with Harry while searching for a Horcrux - Harry says that he thought apparation wasn't possible inside Hogwarts. Uh no, Dumbledore, even for you apparition is forbidden and impossible inside Hogwarts.
I guess, if I think about it, I dislike this film almost as much as I dislike Prisoner of Azkaban; however, here is why this movie scores higher in my mind: Draco Malfoy. He becomes a Deatheater and is forced with the heart-breaking task of killing the headmaster at Hogwarts - the school he has loved and looked forward to attending for the past five years. The writers do a phenomenal job of showing Draco as broken down and frightened. You can tell that he is proud to have been chosen for this task, but at the same time, he is terrified and doesn't want to do it. His life is literally on the line, and that shows every time Draco shows up on screen. He is not as playful and conniving as he is in all of the other films - he actually does a good job of ignoring Harry as well - except when Harry eavesdrops on the Hogwarts Express. I love the unraveling of Draco. It makes me feel even more sorry for him. This is an excellent example of character development done right.
This movie also has one of my favorite scenes out of all eight in the series: the Felix Felicis scene. Daniel Radcliffe is honestly funny. He plays it with a bit of a drunk tone to it, and it's brilliant.
I also really love the pensieve scenes with Tom Riddle's memories. I think those were done very well. The one thing that, at first, stood out to me as something I didn't like was the choice to have the memories swirl in black. They reminded me of the cloud of black smoke that the Deatheaters travel in; however, the more I think about it, having the memories swirl in black to match the Deatheaters' trail was probably a conscience decision, which makes me love it.
A scene that gets me crying like a baby every time, no matter what, is Dumbledore's death. The wand salute is truly moving, and the score in the background leaves me at the mercy of the movie. I give over to tears almost immediately. It's a beautiful scene.
Overall, I have a love-hate relationship with this film. I love the book, so I love the story; however, I don't like the changes they made when transferring it to the screen.
I give Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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