selenak

Unspoiled version: as with the book, I thought this had some powerful scenes but also somewhat suffered from the fact JKR crammed all the teenage romance she wouldn't have time for in the last volume in this one. Jim Broadbent is great as Horace Slughorn, this is hands down Michael Gambon's best performance as Dumbledore so far, Tom Felton steps up to the plate (which is important as this is the first book where Draco Malfoy becomes a) important to the plot and b) a more dimensional character), and Alan Rickman is great as ever. THAT scene is just perfect. On the downside of things, for me the feeling of the film went back to the "Rushed Cliff Notes on Harry Potter" or "Illustrated Highlights of Harry Potter" sense I had from the first two movies and which I thought the later ones somewhat successfully avoided. I also have no idea whether the film will make any sense at all if you haven't read the novels.

Mind you, a lot of the cuts made sense; for example, I loved Fleur's big scene at Bill's bedside near the end, facing off against Molly, but the whole Fleur-Bill-subplot was expendable if you had to throw something out, plus it arguably shows Ginny in a really bad light. And while I regret the ministry scenes, they, too, were expendable, especially considering you can introduce Scrimgour early in Deathly Hallows and have the same effect. What was really frustrating, though, that Snape's background (well, except for what you can see in the Spinner's End scene with the Black sisters early on) and the explanation for the freaking' title - the bitter pun that is "Half-Blood Prince" - didn't make the cut. Nor the irony that Harry is able to learn from the notes that teenage Severus left in a way he couldn't from the adult version, or that he fanboys the unknown "Prince" quite a lot. Or the really continuity relevant discussion as to whether or not it could be Voldemort, considering everyone remembers Riddle's diary.

Back to what's actually there: of the additions invented by the script, the intro scene with Harry and the waitress in the underground station really worked for me (and made me wonder about AUs where Harry tries to live in the Muggle world again) and the attack on the Burrows mid-movie conveyed the "no one is safe" atmosphere quite well and worked on a symbolic level as well (i.e. the Weasleys were always Harry's idealized home, symbolizing family and warmth, and it goes up in flames). Because Fleur's big scene at the end is, out, though, so is the entire Tonks subplot along with her declaration after Fleur's declaration, which means Remus' and Tonks' presence chez Weasley during the holidays feels rather random and as a way to remind people they still exist in the 'verse. Some of the shortcuts the film took were both sensible and effective: instead of Moaning Myrtle observing Draco cry and mentioning this to Harry, Harry sees it, and instead of Hagrid overhearing that crucial Snape-Dumbledore conversation which contains "you ask too much" and reporting it to Harry, Harry hears it himself. Other short cuts, however, made me yearn for the full version: the Snape-Narcissa-Bellatrix scene comes immediately to mind. It's there, it's good, it's too short.

Everything Dumbledore-related is excellent; you can tell this script was written with the full background information from Deathly Hallows in mind, and not just that cryptic "all my fault" exclamation in the cave is left in, and there is enough emphasis on Dumbledore's hand so that the DH revelation as to what he was up to the entire year won't be a staggering surprise. No, I mean that both the ruthlessly manipulative side of Dumbledore (with Slughorn, with Harry) and the ability to have compassion (with Draco) is deliberately highlighted in a way previous movies did not. You also get a moment which I think they'll reuse in DH as a brief flashback, because it's evidently meant to convey to the watching audience (but not yet Harry) that this is the moment in the movieverse where Dumbledore realises Harry is the last Horcrux and that Voldemort can be defeated for good if he gets Harry to sacrifice himself for the cause. (My own impression the bookverse was that this happened earlier, but hey. They left out the "triumphant gleam" in the film version of GoF, so they needed to put an equivalent scene in later.)

Horace Slughorn, aka the guy who along with Snape and portrait!Phineas Nigellus forms a trio of adult Slytherins not evil in the HPverse, turns out to be a great character part for Jim Broadbent. Mind you, I wonder what on earth a hypothetical viewer not familiar with the books or the previous movies will make of Dumbledore's encouraging Harry to let himself "collected" by Slughorn, because it is possible to interpret Slughorn's weakness for promising young students, be it Tom Riddle in the past or Harry in the present (btw, good job with both these scenes and the deliberate parallelizing of Harry and proto Voldemort again), in a subtextual way in addition to the main text of Dumbledore actually admitting he brought Harry along as a bribe to Slughorn after their first encounter.

Of the trio, we're back to Steve Kloves as a scriptwriter, which means Ron is back to solely being comic relief after getting a break from this in Order of the Phoenix (where the scriptwriter was not Kloves). This doesn't help in the credibility department of Ron/Hermione if you haven't read the books. Harry/Ginny comes out of nowhere, too, but then, it does so in the novels where Harry is concerned. (And as CoS the film didn't include Ginny's massive crush on Harry, it comes out of nowhere for Ginny in the movieverse, too.) As I said in my review of HBP the book long ago, teen romances aren't Rowling's forte. On the other hand, she really rocks with friendship scenes, and both Harry's scenes with Luna and with Hermione are just lovely.

Draco: this is the one story where Draco Malfoy is a really meaty role, and I must say, both script and Tom Felton make the most of it, conveying Draco going from an attempt at teenage bravado ("I won't be wasting my next two years here") through increasing misery and desperation, so that by the time we get to the tower scene, it's clear the boy is a wreck. (The movie also doesn't disguise he has something to be a wreck about - other than the mission to kill Dumbledore, I mean; personally, I found the scene with Katie Bell more horrifying then Bellatrix attacking the Burrow.)

Everything from the moment Harry and Dumbledore return to Hogwarts till Snape leaves Harry with "I was the half-blood Prince" (at which point poor movie goes must go "what the hell? Huh?") is choreographed and acted perfectly; the Dumbledore-Draco conversation, the moment Harry sees Snape and for the first time absolutely trusts him and listens to Snape motioning him to keep quiet, the Snape-Dumbledore exchange of looks complete with "Severus. Severus, please", the death curse, and Harry's abortive attempt to get Snape to fight him afterwards. I also loved the quiet epilogue with the trio, which in essence is Harry's and the audience's goodbye to Hogwarts (though the final showdown takes place there in DH, nothing else does; this is really the last time we see Hogwarts in peace and as a home to Harry). "I never realized how beautiful it is." Very poignant scene.

Trivia observation:
- Hermione's bookverse hair is back! If only for the potion brewing scene.
- Slughorn pointing out Regulus Black to Harry on the photo was, as far as "oops, we just realized we cut out the Regulus mention in OotP and this is so going to screw us in DH if we don't rectify this" goes, quite effective; it also provided Harry with a moment of continuity relevant Sirius angst
- the fact the movie explicitly pointed out Dumbledore portrait in the headmaster's office makes me think we will get all the Snape-Dumbledore flashback scenes from DH, which I really hope for