All you Potter Heads out there...I'm sure, like me, you've missed Harry Potter..Just knowing that there is no more books to look forward to can be depressing.Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is here to make it all better! But does it live up to expectations?

The fifth film, the Order of the Phoenix was probably my favourite film in the franchise. It was all down to the dark mood it portrayed during the course of the film. Director David Yates returns to helm this movie and thus the film was most similar to the Order of the Phoenix, more so than the other films.

However, in this film, there's a whole more characterization involved. The relationship between Harry and Dumbledore was a particularly convincing one. The Ron/Hermione/Lavender and Harry/Ginny/Dean love triangles really get a lot of screen time here, and these are present to provide a bit of light-heartedness to the film. While these scenes are probably the funniest in the series, I do wish the film concentrated less on those and more on the more important bits...



Professor Horace Slughorn returns to teach Potion at Hogwarts, and the actor playing him, Jim Broadbent, is exceptional in this film. He absolutely nailed all the scenes he's in. He's funny in one scene, and emotional in the other. Slughorn is instrumental in the film and you would almost be certain to fall in love with the character, as I did. Slughorn is, in my opinion, the best teacher (the ones who only appear in one film, i.e the Defence against The Dark Arts teachers) in the six films.

This movie is also very beautiful,with great CGI and excellent cinematography. Even though I wished all the important bits from the book were included (all the memories, more Quiditch, Snape's DADA classes, the Holidays) there is no way all of it were to be included.It's just too long. Besides, this is a movie, not a book. Thus the movie is stripped down to its very bare essentials..The film does a good job of choosing the most important parts that were to be included and all of them are executed well. The scene where Dumbledore and Harry went for the Hocrux is one of the highlights of the film and is done extremely well.

One disappointing scene was the one at the Astronomy Tower, *SPOILERS where Dumbledore was killed SPOILERS* and subsequently, the confrontation with Snape. It was sort of an anti-climax and far too short. The changes in that film and the book in that scene was sort of out-of-character for Harry. You'll see what I'm talking about when you watch it.

All in all, it was a good film.,maybe the best one in the series so far. As for those who read the book, there is still a feeling of something missing and for those who haven't,I'm not sure they will fully understand the going-ons in the wizarding world, but will have the basics covered...




IGN Review Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince



Here are some differences form the book and the movie I found from Wikipedia... Thought I would share it with you all....

There are a number of changes from the book in the film which include a greater emphasis placed on less important subplots and the addition of scenes not present in the book. Although opening shots give some idea that Death Eaters are tormenting London (as seen with the destruction of the Millennium Bridge) it isn't explained why. The first chapter's meeting between the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge and the unnamed muggle Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (which explains the Dementors' breeding and rioting) is oddly not present. This leaves a gap in the next film for the installation of Rufus Scrimgeour as the new Minister of Magic.

In the book, there was a large buildup for Remus and Tonks' relationship, with Tonks being depressed after Remus rebuffs her. However, both appear briefly in the film, and Tonks, in addition to knowing details about Remus that the others apparently do not, calls Remus "Sweetheart" and fights by his side during the attack on the Burrow, making it clear that the two are already together, and the long buildup for it was cut. Another thing which is cut is that Remus was 'underground' with the werewolves on Voldemort's side, and the revelations that Greyback was the one who bit him.

Much of the book's ending has been changed, with the climactic battle and Dumbledore's funeral being removed. Heyman commented that the end battle was removed to "(avoid) repetition" with the forthcoming adaptation of Deathly Hallows. As such, the Death Eaters proceed through Hogwarts without any resistance with a crazed Bellatrix ravaging the Great Hall and setting fire to Hagrid's hut. Bill Weasely's bite from Fenrir during the battle as noted in the book is not present, leaving yet another gap considering his marriage to Fleur and his werewolf-like condition (as a result of the bite) plays an important role in the upcoming film's plot. The funeral was removed as it was believed it did not fit with the rest of the film.[63] The collapse of a Muggle bridge mentioned briefly in the book serves as the film's opening sequence.[64]

Scenes of Diagon Alley being demolished by Death Eaters and an attack on the Burrow, known as "The Burning of the Burrow" by Bellatrix Lestrange and werewolf Fenrir Greyback are added, as can be seen in the trailers. All but two of the memory scenes, including that of the Gaunts, have been cut. Only the flashbacks of Tom Riddle at the orphanage and Riddle asking Slughorn about Horcruxes, shown twice, remain.[64] Yates said they made the decision to compress the memories, but still "got some really cool ones".[65]

Characters who are cut include the Dursleys, Kreacher, Dobby, Bill and Fleur, Rufus Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge, the Gaunts, Moaning Mrytle, Professor Trelawney, and the Muggle Prime Minister. However, Quidditch,[66] being excluded from the previous film, returns. Bellatrix Lestrange also participates in the battle of the astronomy tower, whereas she did not in the book. This scene also shows Harry hiding on a floor underneath Dumbledore and his adversaries as he is acting on Dumbledore's wishes to stay put, whereas in the book, Dumbledore forces Harry to hide by casting the body bind spell on him while he is under the invisibility cloak. All of the scenes where the characters are learning to disapparate were cut.

In the book, on the Hogwarts Express, after he is paralyzed and hidden under his Invisibility Cloak by Draco Malfoy, Harry is rescued by Nymphadora Tonks. In the film, Luna Lovegood saves him instead, using her Spectrespecs to find him.

The film focuses on Harry's growing feelings for Ginny, more so than in the books or previous films. It includes a few Ginny and Harry scenes that were not in the novel, including one scene in which Ginny tenderly feeds Harry a mince pie at Christmas, only to have Ron intrude on the moment. Also, they do not share their first kiss in a Quidditch match celebration (Ron and Lavender take this role instead). Instead, the two share a brief kiss when they are alone in the Room of Requirement, having made the excuse of hiding Harry's Potions text book to be there. The film also never explained how or when Ginny broke up with Dean (although, when she turns up late at one of Slughorn's parties looking as if she's just been crying, Hermione suggests that she and Dean have been fighting). In the novel, she accused Dean of always trying to help her through the portrait door into the Gryffindor common room. In reality, Harry had been wearing his Invisibility Cloak, and bumped into her while under the influence of Felix Felicis. The scene in which Harry breaks up with Ginny at the funeral was removed, along with a lot of the dialogue that followed the funeral in the book.

Ron and Lavender's relationship is also quite different in the novels than in the film. In the film, she is never referred to by name but seems to have an almost unhealthy obsession with Ron before their relationship even began while in the novel, it took a few months before her behavior became obsessive. The end of their relationship was also changed. In the film, Ron calls Hermione's name when he wakes up from being poisoned which causes Lavender to run away in tears. In the novel, she breaks up with him because she sees him and Hermione coming from the dorms to the common room together and assumed that there had been something going on with them for a while (she did not see Harry as he was under his invisibility cloak). Also, in the novel Lavender did not get a high enough score to be in N.E.W.T. potions while in the film she is in the class.

Hermione's attacking Ron with her transfigured birds after seeing him kiss Lavender at the Quidditch match celebrations is changed somewhat - in the novel, Harry finds Hermione in an unlocked classroom. In the film, he finds her in a hallway. Also, it is indicated that Hermione only started crying after leaving the classroom, while in the film, she is crying throughout the entire scene and Harry consoles her.

Also Harry does not hide the Potions book under the wig and tiara of Ravenclaw but instead Ginny hides it when Harry closes his eyes. This change from the book will also affect the Deathly Hallows since that was how he found the horcrux.[67]

Also, in the film, there is no mention of the other Horcruxes besides the diary, the ring, and the locket. Riddle vaguely mentions seven in his tense conversation with Slughorn although it is not confirmed. In the book, Dumbledore explains to Harry that he has reason to believe that the remaining Horcruxes are Voldemort's snake Nagini, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's (it later transpires that it was in Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem).

Furthermore, the reason behind Harry and Dumbledore's trek into the cave is never explained through exposition-- though the cave is seen in a photograph on the wall in the young Tom Riddle's room at the orphanage, there's no mention of why the adult Voldemort would have hidden a horcrux there (in the book, Dumbledore explains to Harry that the boy Riddle would terrorize fellow orphans by bringing them down the cliffs into the cave during field trips). Harry and Dumbledore's treacherous swim into the cave is absent as well. Also, it is not explained why or how Snape coined his self-made title, the "Half-Blood Prince", which is because his mother (Eileen Prince) was a pureblood witch and his father was a Muggle