Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

***Contains Spoiler***

If you haven't read the book or seen the film then don't read on.....

So - took Morgan to see it last night and loved it. Cinema was packed out and there was a real buzz. We had rubbish seats - right at the bottom to one side - so the screen seemed distorted for some shots making me feel a little dizzy.

The film itself was fantastic - picking up where Order of the Phoenix left off.

The film flowed quite nicely and I think sits well as a film in its own right. You can see how it has to fill the gap between 5 and 7 - with some enforced story telling. There was a huge amount missing from the film - so some explanations were a little weak - but to do justice to the book would take at least a 12-hour film - and then you'd still be missing stuff out. I think I need to go back to the book to see just where all the gaps are - but I'm not going to discredit the film for that. It has a job to do - get from OoTP to The Deathly Hallows.

You can really see how the three key actors have developed as actors through the years, as have the characters. The passion in this film as the characters find love is really amusing and at times seems to take over the story - and Voldemort seems to be in the back of the film for a lot.

I feel the horcruxes were only lightly explained - but maybe this will be talked about more in the next film(s). The scene where Dumbledore and Harry visit the lake really is scary and I think the whole cinema jumped (although we were expecting it) - I was holding Morgan's hand at this point. (For his sake - of course ;-) )

Highlights for me:

• Harry taking the lucky potion - very funny
• Ron in love with Romilda
• Hermione hating Ron
• Ginny
• The twins shop

Annoying things:

• Charlie and Bill not in it (or Fleur)
• Only brief Lupin appearance
• A lot of story twisting with the Weasley house (or maybe I don't remember that bit from the book)
• Very little discussion on Sirius' death
• The whole Half-Blood Prince was not explained at all - just one line saying who it was
• No Dumbledore funeral (I did warn you this had spoilers in)

Oh - and a side note. I took Morgan along - he is eight in September, has watched all of the Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean films and I was a little concerned about taking him to such a dark film - he was fine. On the other hand the TWO YEAR OLD GIRL on the same row as me was not having a good time. Whatever possessed her parents to take her I do not know - pure insanity.