Gan did it again. Somehow she ended up with a couple of free passes to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. So last night, my girl took me to the movies and this was truly an act of love. I mean, how else could you explain my love sitting in line for two hours to watch the sixth film of a series that she was almost completely unfamiliar with. I have only one word for that and that word is love.

Which I feel is a perfect lead into my review of Harry Potter and the HBP.

(It's almost silly to say, but this review has spoilers - you have been warned.)





There is a moment in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince of pure fantasy that is so impossible and so magical that you can't help but be reminded that you are reading a fantasy book. (Or watching a fantasy movie based on a fantasy book.) No, I'm not talking about the part with the centaurs or those crazy, wacky house elves. No not the moment where everyone whips out their wands and starts shooting lightning bolts at each other.

No - the moment of pure fantasy that I am speaking of is the moment when high school student Harry Potter consoles Hermione, his broken hearted best friend by letting her cry on his shoulder. Instead of - you know - doing what any high school boy would actually do to try make his female friend feel better by shagging her, breaking up with her six months later, and then spending a life time either idolizing her or villainizing her.

Pure. Fantasy.

Seriously, ask any high school boy (and most men are still nothing more than that) what he would do if he was unattached and his best friend looked like Emma Watson and was heart broken and crying on his shoulder. What would a guy do to make his friend feel better? What does every man think will make things better?

I know what I would have done.

With the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling tried to write a character who is the perfect boy. He's smart, good looking, a great athlete, brave, heroic, friends with the nerdy girl (but not stupid enough enough to ruin that with snogging or shagging), and dates the quiet, less nerdy girl, that no one notices, but who has secretly loved Harry all along. (And by that, I mean Harry ends up and falling in love with the reader.)

I remember when I read Harry Potter and the HBP. Very clearly. And the thing I remember thinking most while reading the book was "Why is everyone kissing? Isn't Voldemort running around killing people? Is hooking up this important?" But then Harry and Dumbledore would go off on an "exciting" adventure to learn more about Voldemort and I was so bored that I felt that reading about Harry and Ginny snogging would be so much better.

So - how is the movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince? Well, if you loved the book, I can honestly say that you'll love the movie.

It's probably easy for a lot of people to dismiss Rowling's sixth book as not much more than a glorified Japanese dating sim (as in who's gonna end up with whom). But the author is looking at much deeper issues. Rowling has written a story about men who are in possession of a great power, be it a potions book (Harry) or a former potions master (Dumbledore), and asks the questions, does the hero understand the power that he is wrestling with? Is that source rooted in evil? Is that source worthy of respect? What kind of man (Draco) do you become if you use such power?

Only problem is, Rowling's story of power shaping a hero or a villain is almost lost completely because her adventure and mcgruffins are ... well, I'll say it... kinda stupid. Rowling's REAL interest in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is HOW do Harry and Ginny end up together. HOW does Ron recognize that it was Hermione all along.

And this comes out in the movie. Snape is on the screen for maybe six minutes total yet it's his character that is supposed to tie the WHOLE story together.

Here's how I know that no one really cares.

You could stand outside when the 7:15 showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince gets out and ask people two questions to prove my point.

#1 - Who is the Half Blood Prince? Which if most people were able to stay awake for the film will answer quite easily.

#2 - Why is the Half Blood Prince important? At this point, anyone who watched this movie will blink at you and stand there, mouth open, thinking. "Because it's his potions book?" The movie fan might respond. Yes, but what was so important about that Half Blood Prince? Why is the potions book important?

The answer will be missed by most, but that's okay. The author, director and most of America/United Kingdom don't care much about The Half Blood Prince or what he represents. Most people who walk out of the movie will say they had a great time. Because, in the end, the movie fan will know why Harry got together with Ginny. And why Ron gets together with Hermione. And who killed Dumbledore.

Not unlike Twilight, Harry Potter is not so much about what happens. Did they world end? Did the bad guys win? Did we win the fight? Did we find out who the Half Blood Prince was? (Yes, it was Snape.) Well, we all know the answers to those questions - the real question is - why didn't Harry take advantage of Hermione in her moment of weakness?

Simple. Because Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a book/movie that takes place in a fantasy world.