Is Half Blood Prince that bad? I don't think so.

I feel compelled to blog about my liking for this movie after realising there hasn't been many favourable comments about it, especially on facebook.

What were they expecting Harry Potter to do to satisfy them?

I agree that:

1) It is more gloomy with the focus on what the bad guys are doing to the good guys, and most of the time the good guys are powerless to retaliate. So?

This movie is a build up to the final showdown with Voldermort. I think the main message of this sequel is that the dark side has regained its power and has showed it from its attacks on Hogwarts.

2) This movie considerably featured scenes of Ron and Harry falling in love with Hermione and Ginny respectively, and Harry playing relationship consultant when necessary. So?

Ron's girlfriend played the clown in this movie and we all know the importance of a clown in a circus. Besides, it is normal for kids their age to engage in such activities. So I see no qualms for this inclusion.

3) This movie didn't quite have the good versus evil finale showdown which was especially evident in the "Order of The Phoenix". So?

As I have explained myself earlier, there is only going to be one winner in this film and it's the dark side. When the competition is so one-sided, it is hardly appealing to have any kind of showdown because it would be pointless. I thought how the movie ended epitomised my point.

Most importantly, I hope people can see this movie in the perspective of characters' growth. For example, conversations they had in this movie compared to the earlier ones were drastically different. There is this sense of character build up over the series that made the individual characters richer in personality, depth, and we could appreciate/understand them a lot more.

I think it is of parallel comparison to The Lord of the Rings series, where you see the carefree side of Frodo as a Hobbit, and himself slowly taking up the responsibility over the series to eventually destroying the Ring.

That's the beauty of such series, and I don't think people should judge the film based on its entertainment value or worse, comparing it with the book's content.

Details might have been left out but I believe the gist have been presented. At least to me, as much as the extra nitty gritty details would have provided fuller understanding, too much details would make the movie impossible to complete in a seating. Much less finish shooting the movie. Fancy watching Harry Potter over 20 years?

So yeah, I can conclude that The Half Blood Prince isn't that bad as most people have reviewed it. For those who have yet to catch this latest sequel to the Harry Potter series, I suggest you rent / buy the DVDs of the previous installments to better appreciate the change.

p.s. The only burning question I had while watching this sequel was:

Why was Dumbledore's hand turning black?

Fortunately I had the walking Harry Potter series beside me, so my doubts were cleared immediately after the movie.