Harry Potter and... Who Was That Again?

SPOILER ALERT: This post is about the 6th Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It contains spoilers about both the movie and the book.

I never expect movie adaptations to be exact duplicates of the book on which they are based. Books and movies bring different experiences and changes have to be made to convey the same message effectively through each medium. A good adaptation is not necessarily one that follows every moment written in the book, but rather one that stays faithful to the message of the story.

In many ways, I enjoyed the 6th Harry Potter movie. There were funny moments, particularly when Ron and Harry were under the influence of potions. The awkward teen-love moments were well done, and Rupert Grint's performance as Ron was particularly memorable. (Especially his terrified/confident moments on the Quidditch field.)
But then there was that nagging problem of the movie glossing over one of the titular characters. The title of this installment is Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. This gives us a clue that there should be more than a few passing references to this mysterious former Potions student.

While there is a lot more happening in the plot, the search for the identity of the Half-Blood Prince is an important element of the story. Does the Half-Blood Prince's potions expertise show that he is good? Do the dangerous spells in the book show that he is evil? After the reveal, this translates beautifully into the question of whether Snape is acting under Dumbledore's orders (good) or a true Deatheater (evil).

Just as Harry decides whether to trust the instructions in the Half-Blood Prince's potion book, he also has to decide whether to trust Snape. It is a brilliant way to parallel the building conflict between Harry and Snape while leading up to the story's climactic ending.

Or what was a climactic ending in the book. In the movie version, the final fight was watered down to a quiet confrontation between Draco and Dumbledore while Harry and some Deatheaters inexplicably stood around doing nothing.

Compare what happens in the book: Dumbledore and Harry return from their quest. Hogwarts is under attack by the Deatheaters. The Order of the Phoenix and the students in Dumbledore's Army (who have shared the remaining Liquid Luck between them) are putting up a valiant fight. Dumbledore curses Harry, which leaves him petrified beneath his invisibility cloak. From his hidden position, Harry is forced to watch as Draco confronts Dumbledore only to be shoved aside by Snape who kills Dumbledore himself.

It is all out war and as the Deatheaters retreat from Hogwarts, Harry (freed from the curse by Dumbledore's death) chases after Snape in vengeance. It is only then that he learns Snape is the Half-Blood Prince.

In the movie, we are expected to believe that Harry watches Dumbledore's death from below - without any attempt to intervene - simply because Dumbledore told him to stay away. Now Harry reveres Dumbledore, but there is nothing in his character that would make him stand by in that situation-- which is why Dumbledore petrifies him in the book.

Similarly, we're to believe that the Deatheaters would stand idly by, waiting for Draco to get up the nerve to kill Dumbledore. What was the point of them even showing up at Hogwarts? They did nothing other than watch Snape kill Dumbledore, trash the great hall, and burn Hagrid's hut. No attack on the students or faculty. No first battle in the war between good and evil.

When Harry follows Snape and he reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince, it's a big "who cares?" moment. Harry showed little to no interest in the identity of the Half-Blood Prince throughout the movie. The question of whether the Half-Blood Prince's book was trustworthy was entirely glossed over. So why would it even matter that Snape is the Half-Blood Prince?

To top it off, the movie skipped Dumbledore's funeral entirely. In its place, a small mix of students and faculty gathered around Dumbledore's body and raised lit wands toward the sky, outshining the Dark Mark.

Dumbledore deserved more. The movie should have followed the book's design. There should have been an elaborate funeral where his body was magically entombed after being surrounded by majestic flames. The weak wand show by a smattering of students wasn't enough to say goodbye. The audience deserved more.

It's difficult to adapt any book to film, let alone such a wildly popular book as any in the Harry Potter series. There were moments I enjoyed, but some important elements were forgotten, and the movie ending was anticlimactic to say the least.

I don't know how much involvement JK Rowling has in the films, but it often seems like it isn't enough.