Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) Reviews

• All The Least Important Parts of the Book in Movie Form.

  ZeroCorpse-12009-07-15

  This film has possibly the worst ending of any HP film, and wandered the furthest from the books. If you are a fan of the books, this is for you: Remember that cool battle at Hogwart's at the end of the book? It's not here. None of it. Remember the important plot setup with the tiara? Not here. Remember all the background and memories about Tom Riddle? Not here. Remember Bill Weasley? Not here. Remember Bill getting wounded by a certain werewolf? Not here. Remember Fleur? Not here. Remember Snape's important parting words to Harry? Not here. Remember the funeral? Not here. Remember the touching conversation Harry had with Ginny at the end? Not here. Remember Scrimgeour? Not here. Remember the Burrow burning down? No? Oh, because that IS here. In short, this film is great if all you took out of the book was the romance and funny bits. If you're more invested in the bigger story, you'll be disappointed.

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• The Best Book...The Worst Movie!

  xxmonexx2009-07-15

  As an avid Harry Potter fan who has read the books multiple times and of course seen the movies repeatedly, I was extremely excited to see this movie at the midnight showing. Half-Blood Prince is my favorite book and other than 7, the darkest book in the series. That being said, I was so disgusted with this movie. Yates & company literally turned it into Harry Potter comedy hour. I'm not sure how anyone thought this movie was amazingly dark when the theater was cracking up laughing the entire time at trite jokes. The only thing that should have been funny in this entire movie was Lavender & Won Won's obsession w/ each other. The movie emphasized the unrequited love/snogging/Ron & Lavender romance over the major plot line which was learning about Tom Riddle's background. With the exception of Dumbledore's first meeting w/ Tom & Tom asking about how to make Horcruxes, all of the background was left out. That's essentially three quarters of the book omitted. What was the point of not having Tonks find Harry on the train? How can you have Tonks call Remus sweetie and not explain all the drama between them and how they got together? How can you leave out Madam Rosmerta's involvement? What was the point of the burning of the Burrow scene? The ending was horrific. It was completely different than the book. So now Dumbledore is the only one who can apparate on Hogwarts grounds? Malfoy spends all this time working on this cabinet only to have the Death Eaters walk through, Bellatrix (who is not present in the book) encourage him to kill Dumbledore, Snape kills Dumbledore, and they kindly saunter off the grounds in no hurry. No battle... no fear of being caught...nothing. What was the point of the cabinet in the movie? It was completely anti-climatic and they didn't even have the funeral scene which is a must-have. The worst part ever was the very end...Harry and Hermione are talking about Dumbledore's death and going searching for horcruxes and she randomly chimes in that Ron is OK w/ Ginny and Harry. WHAT?! It was so awkward. And can someone please tell me how they are going to explain Dobby and Kreacher in the Deathly Hallows movies when they have essentially been omitted from the subsequent movies after being introduced? I honestly would like a do-over. They really need to re-shoot this movie and try again because it was bad. For the real fan, it leaves you cold and empty, with no tears for Dumbledore because you are so confused, and wondering why Yates and Co. cared about Lavender being funny more than the back story of Tom Riddle.

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• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, or Ron Weasley and the Half-A**ed Romance?

  ddoncila2009-07-16

  Oh god. This movie butchered the magic of the book. I seriously wasn't sure if this was the same movie... Why didn't Dumbledore pick Harry up from the Dursleys and give them a piece of his mind? Where was the Slug Club? Why didn't Harry know that Sirius' house was now his? not to mention Kreacher? It plays a big part in the next movies! Why weren't the lessons with Dumbledore fully developed? You find out almost NOTHING about Voldemort's past. Where were Bill and Fleur? Where was the twins' shop? (Blink and you miss it) Where was Hagrid? Where was Neville? Where was Quiditch? Where was Tonks' and Lupin's relationship??? What, am I just supposed to believe that they get married out of nowhere in the next book? Where was Madam Rosmerta's role? Where were apparition lessons? How are the trio meant to move from place to place in the next books? Magic Carpet?!?!?! Where was Dumbledore's funeral? Where was Harry's and Ginny's relationship and break-up? Where was Scrimgeour? Where was the big fight at the end? Where was the set up with the diadem? Where was Fenrir Greyback? WHY for the love of all that's holy, did Harry just STAND there while Snape murdered Dumbledore before his very eyes? He was meant to be PETRIFIED (literally)!!! And not only that, but Snape actually SEES Harry, and does nothing about it. Won't Harry find it kinda odd that a Death Eater sees him, practically defenceless, and doesn't do anything about it? Harry is meant to believe that Snape is a full fledged Death Eater, yet he lets Harry get off scott free? That is a SERIOUS oversight in the plot of the book! All these things listed above, the major plot points, weren't there! I couldn't find them! What I COULD find however was: The burning down of the burrow...?!? Dumbledore seeming to only JUST realize that Voldemort used Horcruxes even though he was meant to have already destroyed one... and not only that but I also explicitly heard Dumbledore say: "They could be anything"!!! In the book, he clearly points out that they WOULDN'T be just anything, that Riddle liked collecting things. In the movie, he makes out as if it could be any old thing, a shoe, a can, a piece of paper... (better get searching then Harry, I found the ring, because "Magic leaves traces", but when I die, you're screwed!!!) Some random waitress in some random diner... A rock concert tribute to Dumbledore... A revealing of Hermione's love for Ron... and i DEFINITELY found Ron's and Lavender's relationship and... sexual innuendo?? OK, the Ron and Lavender subplot in the book was quite nice and funny but in the movie, it completely shadowed the ACTUAL story! they were snogging all over the place! it was impossible to focus on anything else with them popping up everywhere! It turned the movie into some sickly rom-com! and then I was shocked to find sexual innuendo! yup, believe it or not. And i know I wasn't the only one because i heard laughs and hoots all around the theater. The scene where Ginny bends down to tie Harry's shoelaces... what is up with that? Hey hang on a minute, isn't Harry's cloak meant to be a hallow? Good thing Luna CHARMED it off him then!!! MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD So, not only did they destroy the capodopera that this movie could have been, but they also didn't set up the next movie/s. How are Harry, Ron and Hermione going to start looking for the Horcruxes if they don't even know what they COULD be? How are the contents of Dumbledore's will going to be passed along if Scrimgeour doesn't even exist? How is Harry going to remember that Xenophilius was wearing the symbol of the Hallows at the wedding if the WEDDING CAN'T EXIST??? And HOW is Voldemort going to get the wand from Dumbledore's tomb if 1. the TOMB Isn't THERE and 2. THE WAND Isn't IN THE TOMB ANYWAY!!! How is Harry meant to remember where the diadem was if he NEVER BLOODY SAW IT!!!! How are they going to use Grimmauld Place and Kreacher, not to mention Dobby if there was never even a whisper about what happened to them??? This movie was thoroughly disappointing, and I really think they should... remake it basically!!! Because not only was THIS movie bad, but it's set to ruin the next ones as well. The only slim ray of hope (because hope springs eternal) left for the next movies is that they include what they missed out in HBP at the start of the first seventh one. They've got like 5 hours for the rest of the Harry Potter story so they could fit it in.

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• Are you freaking kidding me!!?

  singingamy092009-07-15

  I have been counting down the days since they moved this movie from its original release date. As the characters have grown older, the story line gets better, and I was hoping the same would go for the sixth movie. However, I am still completely confused about the decisions made for this movie. The movie is two and a half hours of ridiculousness. Yes, it has fantastic effects, and humor about the raging hormones, but who cares if the integrity of the story is completely diminished. Let's make a list of everything they cut out: 1. The introduction of the new Minister of Magic and all that happens between him and Harry. 2. Dumbledore coming to the Dursley's house to give them a piece of his mind. 3. Harry, Ron and Hermione seeing Draco in the dress shop, and Harry getting his first idea that Draco had been branded into the Death Eaters. 4. The invisibility cloak was absent in almost every important scene besides the train. 5. Slughorn's parties (the first of which that was on the train when Ginny gets her first invite.) 6. Tonks finding Harry on the train. 7. Tonks and Lupin's relationship 8. Several key memories that help Harry find the horcruxes in the 7th book. Also the awkward arguments between Dumbledore and Harry about Dumbledore's whereabouts and what happened to his hand. 9. Hagrid and Thwarp 10. Harry finding out that everything that Sirius owned now belongs to him (including the house that serves as the hiding place in the 7th book) 11. Several of the Quidditch matches and how Harry ends up in trouble and has to miss the final match. THIS is when Harry and Ginny have their first kiss when she becomes the seeker for the team and helps the team win. 12. Harry and Ginny's relationship 13.Fleur and Bill's engagement, and are completely absent in the movie. 13. Madam Rosmerta's role 14. Moaning Myrtle's role 15. THE FIGHT IN THE CASTLE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! The best part of the book and they cut it out. They deserved to be fired in my opinion. How could Rowling sign off on them doing this!? 16. Dumbledore's funeral 17. Harry telling Ginny he could no longer see her...they couldn't have this scene considering they never showed them to be in a relationship. I'm sure there is a lot more, but you get the idea. All of these scenes were cut to add those that never even happened in the book. If you are an actual fan of the book, be prepared to be disappointed. If you haven't read the book, I'm sure it'll be great.

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• Worst Interpretation EVER

  jenna_a222009-07-15

  This segment of HP will disappoint all who read the novel. The Burrow burns down during x-mas break due to Bellatrix and Fenrir (who is never described as a werewolf) perhaps for the lack of action at the end of the movie...the Dursleys are completely cut from the movie, meaning when Dumbledore picks Harry up for the summer it's at the train station for some apparent reason...The Ginny/Dean/Harry dichotomy is skewed, there was no break up between Ginny and Dean and Harry is clearly in love with her from the start of the movie which eliminates his confusion on his feelings during the school year...Hermoine prematurely spills the beans on her feelings for Ron which was only speculation in the novels...Lavender Brown becomes a obsessive and crazed girlfriend rather than simply over-affectionate (a reminiscent Unis from She's the Man)...the battle scene is missing from the end giving Dumbledore's death an anticlimactic feel making it all the more unemotional and disappointing...Harry hides under the floor simply holding his wand looking like a coward while Dumbledore dies, Snape sees him hiding rather than Harry being frozen under his cloak compliments of Dumbledore ...There is no funeral or break up with Ginny at the end of it (there is no relationship between the two either simply a kiss)...Hagrid is basically deleted from the movie as is Neville...Pensive trips are deleted and the Horocruxes are never explained, not even slightly...Luna finds Harry on the Hogwarts Express rather than Tonks...The Slug Club simply makes a cameo rather than a proper introduction and explanation...the Inferi look more like skeletons compared to the white bodies described in the book...I'm sure more discrepancies are present, however I can only remember so many of them. It is absolutely a horrible interpretation of the book and I hope that they look at all of the mistakes and gaps left for the next movie and fill them in with more than humor (they are supposed to be in the middle of an all out war aren't they?) I mean I didn't even feel emotional when Dumbledore was killed, I was too busy trying to figure out why Harry was acting like a stunned coward under the floor boards and not doing something, isn't that his thing...doing seemingly impossible rescue missions?!?! I am utterly disappointed in this installment of HP!!

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