Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[simons_flower]

My PoA review.
My GoF review.
My OotP review.

I will start with the essentials I asked for at the end of my OotP review:

My HBP essentials

• Tom's backstory.
• "You don't have to call me sir, Professor."
• The "meeting" with Scrimgeour at the Burrow at Christmas in which Harry reasserts he's Dumbledore's man.
• The Cave.
• Harry chasing Snape post-Dumbledore in which we learn who the Half-Blood Prince is.

After seeing it for the second time, here are my thoughts:

First, the essentials:

• Tom's backstory
  I think we got some of Tom's backstory, but not enough.  We got the rough sketch -- his beginning in the orphanage, and the discussion with Slughorn about the Horcruxes -- but not really much else.  Additionally, we didn't get any information on the other Horcruxes, so they'll have to find some way of working the real locket (which wasn't included in OotP either), the cup, and the diadem into the next movie.  When I was talking to madam_minnie, she made a good point:  why was Dumbledore's wand on his desk for Harry to fondle it after Dumbledore's death?  That's a major plot point of the next movie right there.
• "You don't have to call me 'sir,' Professor."
  I missed this.  I wanted this.  It's one of my favorite lines in the entire book.  I was disappointed they didn't include any scenes of Snape teaching Defense.  I mean, yes, they had to cut some things, but this has been an undercurrent for several years of the Trio's life that Snape's ambition has been to teach Defense because he's a Dark git, and he finally gets to do it -- and they don't show it!
• The "meeting" with Scrimgeour at the Burrow at Christmas in which Harry reasserts he's Dumbledore's man.
  Actually, it wasn't until making this list that I realized Scrimgeour wasn't in the movie at all.  I'm not sure what that says about me -- if it says more about me or more about the way the movie was told.
• The Cave.
  I'm of mixed feelings about what they did with this.  madam_minnie suggested it's because Michael Gambon is still just so hard to warm up to as Dumbledore, and that could be part of it, but I think there was something missing from this scene -- I just don't know what.  I mean, both times I jumped when the Inferi grabbed at Harry, even though I knew it was coming, so the tension was there.  The horror was there -- to a point.  Maybe that's it, that the horror JKR wrote isn't fully conveyed on screen.  That scene in the book just carried me through to the Lightning-Struck Tower to the point I had to put the book down when I was reading it and that didn't come across in the movie.
• Harry chasing Snape post-Dumbledore in which we learn who the Half-Blood Prince is.
  Snape's brooding menace was there, but I don't think Daniel conveyed Harry's horror and betrayal well.  I also expected more of a fight.

Things and scenes I loved...

• David Yates.
  This is the man that should have been directing all the movies.  He has an amazing feel for the actors, the setting, the entire thing.  I ♥ David Yates -- though it makes me wonder if you have to be named David to make these movies.
• Tom Felton.
  He blew me away in this.  I never thought I'd give a damn about Draco -- though, granted, Draco does have a much bigger role in the book, I still didn't much care for the whiny brat in the book.  I cared in the movie.  I was worried when all the Death Eaters were running through the Forest at the end.  And the scene in the boys' bathroom was awesome (to a point, discussed below).
• The Harry and Hermione friendship.
  Their friendship was really brought to the fore in this, not downplayed, not beaten down.  It was highlighted here -- and it really needed to be, given what's coming up.  And, given that my het OTP is H/Hr, this means something.
• Attention to detail.
  The black subway tile at the orphanage appeared to be the same as what was used at the Ministry in OotP.  The objects young Tom collected.  Ginny's pygmy puff.
• Starting HBP as OotP ended.
  I really liked how the movie began with the press deluge at the Ministry after the fight with Voldemort at the end of OotP.  It pleased me to see that continuity.

Complaints...

• Downplayed emotion.
  This refers more to outrage and horror than comedy and romantic love.  I don't think the actors managed to convey the proper sense of horror at some of the things that happened, except in certain instances.  I'm not sure where the failing lies in that, whether with the actors or whether with the director, but I would have liked to have seen more emotion from both Dumbledore and Harry in the cave (as I said above), as well as more emotion from Harry during the chase after Dumbledore's death, and some sense of franticness after the Sectumsempra curse -- I wanted frantic, not "you know you have to hide it" and a calm walk to the Room of Requirement.  The irony is that the very thing I liked about Tom Felton's performance was that he showed more emotion.
• Gratuitous Ginny.
  For as much as they did well by Harry and Hermione's friendship and didn't overplay the OBHWF to the point where I was nauseated (but I'm more tolerant than some of my H/Hr shipmates), the inclusion of Ginny into all the pivotal scenes was over the top.  On the one hand, I understand they had to set up something so the whole Harry/Ginny thing wasn't out of thin air, but Ginny in every important scene got to be a bit much.  Having her take Harry to the Room of Requirement to dispose of the Prince's book?  Gag me.

Overall and nitpicks...

• Horcruxes
  Not all the backstory was included for all the Horcruxes.  I can only hope they include some of this in DH otherwise it's going to seem like super!Hermione is pulling things out of her ass again.
• The destruction of the Burrow.
  Yes, I like how they did the scene, but I'm not sure what purpose it served.  And since when is the Burrow in the middle of a wheat field?  Where will Bill and Fleur get married in DH now?
• The restriction for underage magic.
  What happened to the restrictions on underage magic?  Didn't Ginny worry about getting citations for it when using magic at the Burrow?  What about when Harry was using magic there?  Or was it "the adults will shield the kids" thinking?  Or are we not supposed to think too much about that?
• Cormac and Blaise.
  No fair that both of them were so damn hot.
• The Dark Mark above the Astronomy Tower.
  Two things about this:  (1) why wasn't it green? and (2) why -- or how -- did a bunch of children's lit wands dispel the Mark?

My DH essentials

• Dobby's death.
• The Silver Doe.
• The Forest Again.  this is what I am most looking forward to in the whole movie