Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

So yesterday, my girlfriend and I made another trip to the movies. This time we went to see the newest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Now as it has always been, I absolutely did not read this book or any of the others before it, nor have I read the book after this. So I cannot say if anything seemed at all out of place or chopped. To me it felt like a pretty total movie, meaning it just felt like it was the way it was meant to be. Does that make sense?

What I enjoyed so much about this one, in comparison to the other movies, is the fact that it surely feels like the story and all of its characters have finally turned that corner. No longer does it feel like a wondrous kids movie, full of mysteries and discoveries. Rather, it finally feels like a story where the world is moving forward and being much more grounded in the real world. The characters are growing up, getting older and the world is increasingly becoming a darker place.

And the movie portrays the chaos rather well. I mean the Death Eaters are running rampant across both the Muggle and magic worlds and no one and nothing is safe with them on the loose. Even the Order of the Phoenix appears helpless in the face of this malevolent threat.

But it isn't all doom and gloom, I mean the characters begin to experience romance. Love even. It makes things different, maybe more so with this story because of the fact that the previous movies were more focused on solving a mystery and fighting off the creeping dark which crept back into the lives of everyone in the magical world.

Another plus for me is the filling in of the back story, which helped shed some light on certain questions, as well as flesh out the characters further. It was especially interesting to see Draco Malfoy, who, up to this point, appeared to be nothing more then a snotty, asshole kid of a Death Eater.

But really, to me the real story of this movie is all in how it ends. Now if you are like me and have not read the book and haven't seen the movie and don't know how the story goes, skip ahead!


Last chance!




It strikes to the heart of Harry, seeing Snape, the man he and his friends suspected for many a school term to being an dark and evil bastard, murder the man whom trusted him the most (Dumbledore) was just too much. Believing Snape to be nothing more then a traitorous murderer, gives chase to the escaping and seemingly victorious Death Eaters. When he finally catches up, Harry is soundly and easily defeated by Snape.

It was in this moment that the mystery of who exactly the Half-Blood Prince was solved. It was Snape all along.

And all that shit just boils my blood because now that just leaves behind far more questions then there are answers. What also does not help matters is the fact that the final movie is rumored to being two parts. I may have to cave in and read the last book...

All in all though, I did enjoy this movie because it was a lot more story driven this time around. It gave a bit more character to the main core group and it filled in the gaps of information from the previous movies. And with how this movie ends, it clearly set the tone for the grand finale.

One interesting and somewhat disappointing no show was the Dark Lord himself. Where the heck was Voldemort? I would have thought he'd at least make another appearance here, but I suppose that is being saved for the next and final movie.

And one final thought here: With the death of his parents and Sirious Black and now Dumbledore, how in the bloody hell is this kid holding his shit together? Practically everyone Harry has ever loved and/or trusted is dead. All he really has left are his friends, but come on. I would have thought he'd be going off the deep end by now, but I guess that kind of stuff doesn't end up into stories like these.