Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Saw the movie a couple of weeks ago I think, or maybe a bit longer than that. Anyway, like all of the Harry Potter movies from 3 onwards, the movie feels very rushed and many of the things from the book had to be cut to fit it all into a 2 hr movie. Personally I feel that it would've been a lot better if the movies were 3 hours long, so they could put in more of the important things that they missed out on, and make it seem like they're not just charging through the storyline. I guess they would argue that they can't do this because children won't be able to sit through the whole movie for that long... but I think the books are actually more suitable for late teenagers, rather say primary school kids. The first book was probably the only book that was suitable for children... the books following that involve more adolescent themes and violence.

Anyway, for those who aren't familiar with the Harry Potter series, this movie is an adaptation of the 6th book in the novel series. As you would've seen in the trailer, Dumbledore was going to tell Harry more of the history involved with Lord Voldemort. Unfortunately though... they didn't reveal all of what was shown in the book, and I feel that it was pretty important to have revealed all of it... however I guess they included the most vital ones, which they couldn't have avoided. I won't reveal anything in case people haven't read the books... but to say the least, I was a bit disappointed on that.

There were also a lot of minor things that were cut or done differently to the book. I guess when you have to cut a lot of various things, you also need to rearrange the story so that it flows better... but it does feel a bit weird when you're expecting it to be done a certain way, and it doesn't turn out like you expected. Perhaps its the downside of reading the book first... but overall I think its still better to read the book first.

One thing that kinda threw me off was that they show Tom Riddle in high school, but they used a different actor to the one from the diary in the 2nd movie. I guess the actor from back then would've gotten older by now... so thats probably why... but it seems odd that Tom looks so different hehe. Guess it can't be helped though.

Also, apparently the 7th book will be done in 2 movies... which imo is good. There are a lot of things to cover in the 7th book, and it would be a real shame if they had to cut half of it due to time constraints... so hopefully that makes up for things.

I'll give the movie 6.5/10. Spell effects are pretty good, and the storyline is good (although the book tells is better of course), but loses out because after having read the book... I guess I was expecting it to turn out a certain way.

On a final note, I am the type that can't help but notice the ladies... and it wouldn't be my review if I didn't talk about it! Now hasn't Emma Watson (Hermione) grown up to be quite the stunner? =) Shes got a nice voice too... I'm a bit of a sucker for girls with English Accents, like Mischa Barton. So I will leave you with the Hermione poster for this movie: