Cabinets and Corpses and Quidditch, oh my!

In preparation of the movie release for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I decided to re-read the book. As the 15th grew closer and I came to the last pages of the tome, my excitement intensified. I started googling pictures of the actors in my spare time, reading blogs discussing what was anticipated from the film, and generally just annoying all of my friends with incessant chatter about how awesome it was going to be. It was a fun movie, but sadly, I find myself almost as let down by it as I was by the movie adaptation of The Goblet of Fire. Below, I'm going to recap the things I thought were handled rather well, and the moments that left me asking, "WTF?" There will be spoilers; proceed with caution.

In the interest of ending on an up note, I'll begin with instances of WTF-itude.

1. The first and foremost complaint I have was the lack of a final wizard battle at the end. What were they thinking, seriously? The ensuing battle after Dumbledore is killed by Snape is one of the most pivotal events of the entire series. So much hinges on it. And they exaggerate the tightness of Hogwarts' security at the beginning of the movie, only to allow the Death Eaters to waltz off the school grounds uncontested after murdering the Headmaster. This is all very frustrating. The last quarter of the book is what everyone was looking forward to. I was so happy to be finally seeing the movie that I was willing to let just about anything slide, but this omission makes my blood burn with White-Hot Nerd Rage. If you read the chapters involving the battle and the aftermath, it's a director's wet dream, full of special effects fodder and wrenching emotions. Why any movie exec would be okay with leaving this out is beyond my understanding.
2. The part in the middle where Bellatrix and Greyback show up at the Burrow and burn it down. Honestly, watching this was pretty cool. It was an entertaining sequence, though it never appeared in the book. What annoyed me is that once it happened, it was never brought up again. Ron and Ginny never seemed sad or depressed that all their possessions were destroyed and that their family was homeless, they just went back to Hogwarts after Winter break and everything was fine. I might've been able to overlook it, but I never fail to be enraged when awesome shit that happens in the book (i.e. cool wizard battle at the end) gets left out while shit that never happened (Ron's house ablaze) gets added in. I understand leaving things out due to time and budget constraints, but that excuse becomes moot once you add things in that never happened. This is a situation where an awesome ending was traded for a fabricated, mediocre middle, and that I just can't abide.
3. Snape was too nice in this movie. There were many opportunities for him to be snarky that should've been taken advantage of, and there's no way he would've let Harry slip off to his dormitory unpunished once using the Sectumsempra curse on Draco.
4. The scene when Dumbledore first met Tom Riddle as a boy was edited rather sloppily. You can tell that most of that material must've ended up on the cutting room floor.
5. Dumbledore dying. It didn't pack the visceral punch of the book. Harry is on his own for the first time since beginning school at Hogwarts and this time he can't expect another savior. This was among several concepts that the movie only hinted at or never approached.
6. The movie is called "The Half Blood Prince," right? So why wasn't it a bigger deal? Hermione only has a passing interest in who the Prince might be and it never really crosses Harry's mind to question. Then, when you find out who it is it seems tacked on. The viewers are left thinking, "Oh. So what?"
7. Where was the DA? I missed seeing Neville and the rest of the kids kicking ass and being funny.
8. Harry deciding not to come back to Hogwarts for his seventh year is a huge fucking deal and no one seemed to give a shit. Hermione's just like, "Oh really? That's cool. I guess we'll come along." This was yet another subtlety of the books that must've gone straight over the director's head.
   

Good Execution:

• Quidditch. Oh my god, Quidditch. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing Quidditch in the movies until now. The shots were exhilarating and some of the funnest to watch in the whole film. Aside from the awesome effects, there are several Quidditch-related tidbits that I'd like to praise.

• First, Cormac McLaggen. The kid who played him did so very well. He was just as skeezy and annoying as the book described him. Kudos!

• Luna Lovegood's lion hat. I was so happy to see that this finally made it into the films. Though we didn't get to hear her commentating the game, this was a nice concession prize. And could she look any MORE adorable?

• Ron's tryout and when he thinks he's drank the luck potion. In fact, I'll just go ahead and say that Ron stole the show for me (and not just because he's my favorite character).
  

• Moving on, I also wanted to point out how much I enjoyed Harry on the luck potion, and Herione being tipsy after a few butterbeers. Both were comical and sweet, and very well acted. In fact, big ups to all the young stars as they seem to get better with each movie.

• I loved Slughorn's Christmas party, especially sweet Luna's dress.

• The relationship with Ron and Lavender was portrayed perfectly. It was great comic relief and fodder for the development of Ron and Hermione's relationship. I was pleased to see that they included the Sweetheart necklace and "Won Won!" It lessened the blow of not getting to hear "Weasley Is Our King" for the second movie in a row.

• I was more than pleased to see that they left out most of the Harry/Ginny love connection. The only thing that annoys me more than Ginny Weasley is Ginny dating Harry. I never understood why so many people were ecstatic to see them together.

• More Luna. I've already said she's adorable and it didn't bother me in the slightest to have her fix Harry's nose after Malfoy broke it. Which leads me to...

• Malfoy was pretty silly in this movie but in an awesome way. He brooded, he obsessed, he cried, he wore the same black outfit in every scene he graced with his presence. And I loved every minute of it.

• Ron on the love potion. He's such a doll, staring at the moon and climbing into bed with Harry. No one could've done it better.

• Bellatrix Lestrange. She's a scary bitch. I love how much more you get to see of her in this one.

All in all it was a good movie. Not as good as Order of the Phoenix, but still good. I'll probably enjoy it even more upon subsequent viewings (of which there will be many). If I could just get them to rewrite the last twenty minutes, I'd say it was my favorite.