J.K. Rowling is said to take part in each of the Harry Potter film installments as to not disappoint fans of her popular book series. After seeing the 6th installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it seems the famous author may not have had much of a say in the story line.

The 6Th book builds momentum to introduce the beginning of the end which is found in the 7th and final book of the series. Its movie equivalent fails to do that. While most may find it important and entertaining to see the blossoming relationships between title characters, it is more important to display the story. It is ok to stray a bit from the story to shed light on a dark occurrence but not for the entire time.

Harry is on a mission with the respected Professor Dumbledore to locate and destroy the pieces of Voldemort’s soul which he sealed in specific objects. Between his journeys with Dumbledore readers also see the developing relationships of Harry and Ginny as well as Ron and Hermione. Unfortunately these relationships overtake the plot of the film. The audience is shown a mysterious mission of which Draco Malfoy takes part. It is not known what that mission is but it is apparent that director David Yates spends too much time on Malfoy and the mysterious closet hidden within Hogwarts. The audience can comprehend what’s going on the first two times Draco uses the closet. He places an article in the closet, it disappears then reappears quite altered. It is apparent it is a gateway.

Instead of focusing on the heart of the story Yates focuses on the humorous stages of puberty and the fascination with the opposite sex which is common amongst most adolescents. Yates also spends time inserting a scene into the movie which never existed in the book. A daring fight scene is deleted between Dumbledore’s army and the Death Eaters. The half-blood prince is revealed without explanation and the ending is quaint. There is no build up for the final chapter.

Harry announces he will not return to Hogwarts and will finish the mission Dumbledore set out to do. He vows to do this alone until Hermione steps up to the plate and claims she will not allow it. The three of them will do so together. Harry’s response is “Ok.” He states how beautiful Hogwarts is and the movie ends.

The book ends with the funeral of a beloved friend and Harry marches off on his own. The movie was a sad visual for the book and hopefully Yates will do better for the final two films. If you are to partake in a film which is meant to depict the book, do not add scenes and keep the core of the story especially with a book series. Half-blood Prince has left a less than mediocre expectation to what the final movie should and will be.

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