Wednesday afternoon, Ruth and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We, along with every other fan of the books/films, were sorely disappointed when we learned last year that Warner Brothers had pushed the release date back from November 2008 to July 2009—with money being the only apparent reason: they felt they could make more money on it as a summer release than as a holiday release.

But it was worth the wait. While the fifth film (Order of the Phoenix) was quite disappointing to me, since it was the shortest of all the films so far while being based on the longest book and since they chose to make some changes to things that happened while seeming minor really messed with the story (like Harry handing the prophecy over, which he didn’t do in the book), I wasn’t sure exactly how they were going to bring the sixth book to the screen—if it would be more true to the nuances of the story than the fifth one. I’m pleased to say that it was. Highly enjoyable, with many laugh-out-loud moments, many poignant scenes between the characters we’ve grown to love over the years, and even a good “jump” moment. Highly recommended.

My goodness, how our little witch and wizards have grown up!

***MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD***

Though for the most part they stayed pretty true to the book, there were two scenes they added that greatly disturbed me.

The first is the opening scene, where Harry’s in a train station diner reading The Daily Prophet—where anyone could see it—and flirts with a waitress with ideas to hook up with her after she gets off work. He then is interrupted when he sees Dumbledore across the platform. When he joins Dumbledore, the headmaster tells Harry he’s been reckless this summer. To which Harry replies, “I like riding the trains.”

Huh? The whole point of Harry’s scenes at his aunt and uncle’s home at the beginning of each book—of why he must return there every summer—is because by staying with his mother’s family, he is protected against Voldemort, which is explained in the opening scene of the book when Dumbledore comes to Number Four Privet Drive to pick Harry up. I can understand that they might not want to pay the actors and actress who play the Dursleys, but the whole part about Harry’s deriving protection from being offered shelter from blood relatives is a somewhat important point in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, after that little fiasco of a scene, we’re pulled right back into the real world of the story when they go to visit Horace Slughorn. Jim Broadbent—while nowhere near as large as Slughorn is described in the books—did a wonderful turn as the grandiose professor whose claim to fame is knowing and having taught those with a real claim to fame.

Another minor quibble over something they changed from the book to the film: in the book, Mrs. Weasley is awake, expecting Harry’s arrival in the middle of the night, as Dumbledore had already arranged it—because there was so much added security put around the Burrow to protect Harry while there. They really took away a lot of the jeopardy early on in the film—by taking away the fact that Harry has to be under extreme protection from all of the bad things happening (which are shown wonderfully in the opening of the film, instead of just talked about in a conversation between the PM and the MoM as in the book). If they’d upped the ante right from the beginning of the film, they wouldn’t have had to add the other scene which disturbed me—which I’ll get to in a moment.

I was so happy that we got to see Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes in this film (though the You No Poo sign in the window was conspicuous by its absence). Knowing what’s coming up for Fred and George Weasley in the final book (and final two movies), it was good just to have the tiny glimpse of them we got in this film. I was a little annoyed that they had to say every single one of their lines in unison; even though their rhythm and timing is amazing, it’s a stereotype of twins that is somewhat juvenile and probably condescending.

There were so many little things they pulled from the book which made nice touches for those of us familiar with them—such as Hermione’s hair growing bushier and bushier during the first Potions lesson when she’s growing frustrated as Harry’s mixture (aided by the Half-Blood Prince’s notes in his textbook) are leading him to greater success than the directions printed in the book which she insists on following. (Though again, here was a little thing that annoyed me: Hermione, Ron, and Harry were the only Griffindors who went on to the NEWT-level Potions class; Lavender and Neville and whoever else those people were standing with them weren’t supposed to be there.) Ah, yes, poor Neville. Though in the previous two films, his role was beefed up by being given tasks that Dobby did in the books, he didn’t even have a speaking line in this movie. I guess that’s why he was in Potions, just so he had some screen time.

The second scene that disturbed me: the attack on the Burrow by Bellatrix and Fenrir Grayback when Ron and Harry and Ginny are there for Christmas. In the book, Harry wasn’t allowed to go anywhere except under strictest security precautions. Because they so weakened the threat to him by eliminating the references to the necessary security/protection precautions in the opening scene of the book (as well as in the Diagon Alley scene where he, Ron, and Hermione go traipsing after Malfoy and aren’t even missed), I guess they felt like they needed this attack scene to show that Harry’s life is in danger. But it seemed so random—and they never followed up on it, never even mentioned the fact that the Weasleys’ home was destroyed, only that Harry’s life was in danger.

While I was looking forward to the blossoming romance between Harry and Ginny in this installment, it was actually the scenes between Harry and Hermione which were some of the most poignant and emotional. I mean, other than the one where she smacks him in the head in the library for saying, “I am the chosen one.” Emma Watson has never been the greatest at portraying emotion, but she nailed the heartache of a typical sixteen-year-old girl as she watched Ron, with whom she’s been in love for a few years now, fall for Lavender Brown in this episode.

Two more quibbles: they didn’t show Harry seeing the diadem in the Room of Requirement when he went in to hide the Potions book (with Ginny, which was an interesting twist to how they could get their kiss into the film) and they didn’t show Dumbledore being buried with his wand. Of course, they didn’t show them throwing out the locket in the fifth movie, either, so it’ll be very interesting to see how they manage to pull all those pieces into the seventh and eighth movies for those who’ve never read the books.

All of my quibbles aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie—much more than the fifth movie. There were not only many, many laugh-out-loud moments, but even one good jump scene. The ending left me slightly disappointed—expecting it to be a little more action filled and putting our characters in more jeopardy than heretofore explored in the series (as they are in the book), but we can’t have everything. Will be seeing this one again soon.