Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - review

Book
I think that Half Blood Prince is one of the best Harry potter books.  We know the magical world inhabited by Harry and his friends, and enemies, very well by now.

A common feature of all the books is that the first chapter is always written away from Harry's viewpoint. We get a wider sense of the world and an introduction to the issues that will have to be dealt with in the coming pages.

Of all the books I like the first chapter 'The Other Minister' the best. There is a real sense here of how the Muggle world and the Magical world are one and the same. We see how the control of the Ministry of Magic is slipping and events in the Muggle world are  under the influence of Voldemort's supporters.

The romance between Ginny Weasley and Harry comes to fruition in this story and there are some lovely moments. There is Quidditch for fans of the sport and Harry has to undertake some very demanding tasks and explores Voldemort's past with Dumbledore.

There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot and a few surprises to keep you entertained. The book concludes in a very exciting manner and tragically too, leaving us in no doubt that there are great challenges ahead for Harry. There is a sense that everything is in place... but you'll know that isn't quite true if you have already read The Deathly Hallows.

Movie
Having been so gripped by the book I was expecting to be thoroughly entertained by the film.

Although I'm well aware of the way that story-telling changes when moving from one medium to another I was rather dissappointed when I watched this version of Half Blood Prince. Characters were missing, Rufus Scrimgeour for one and there was no mention of the Dursleys or the Prime Minister either.

There were plenty of other liberties taken too like the attack on the Weasley's house by Fenrir Greyback and Bellatrix Lestrange. It didn't appear in the book and should not have appeared in the film. The story didn't need it.

The effects were good, as you would expect these days. Unfortunately though the director seems to have failed to keep in touch with the characters or the story. One result of the dodgy direction was the way the characters seemed to be a bit soft or ill defined. After all a director is there to crack the whip, if need be, to get the best performances possible from the actors and actresses he's working with. The director's other role is to ensure the story is clearly told to and understood by the audience. The director should really have understood the need for a bit of passion and longing between Ginny and Harry. Unfortunately they seemed to be slightly embarrassed in each other's company.

The script was rather simplistic too, it would have benefited hugely from some of the twists and turns in the book. I missed the contrast between the Muggle Prime Minister and the Minister(s) for Magic and I think the juxtaposition between the meeting and the incidents outside the office would have worked well. The reliance on the common trick of switching dialogue from on character to another or from a snipped character to a less vocal one is rather noticeable here.

The sets were pretty good and it seemed a real waste to destroy the Weasley's house. Especially as so much effort went into visualising it. Weirdly though the house seemed to be in the middle of fenland, which would mean it had mysteriously moved from the rolling hills described in the book. If you need to look it up then it is the difference between the Cotswolds (beautiful rolling countryside) and East Anglia (lots of marshes).

All in all the film was entertaining but not quite what I expected. I did try to suspend my judgement but was not as engaged as I might have been.