Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Granted that I'm a known Harry/Ginny 'shipper and this movie is supposed to highlight their relationship, I find myself wondering why I still loved Goblet of Fire among all the movie adaptations. But really, what made me look forward to HBP the most was the fact that Ginny is finally given the chance to develop as a character that plays a major role in Harry's future. I shall not get into the argument of 'shipping again for it will be futile. Harry/Hermione 'shippers can gloat all they want about how much "sexual chemistry" Dan and Emma exuded on-screen. But that's it. That's all they will get. For even if Kloves is a self-avowed Hermione fanboy, the fact is that the epilogue has already been set in stone.

Now off we go to the movie. Allow me first to highlight the plus points:

• Romance was NOT the central focus of this movie. At least to me it didn't feel like it. But I loved how they incorporated teenage hormones into the story.- Rupert Grint never fails to stand out among the trio when it comes to acting. Nevermind if people see him as the comic relief. The fact is, he delivers without coming off as too contrived. Who loved seeing Ron rule the quidditch pitch (thinking he actually had a dose of FF) and being all cocky as keeper?
• Lavender Brown was a hoot! Jessie Cave totally nailed how annoying Lav-lav was in the books.
• Remus and Tonks! For the very little screentime that they had, you'd have to be daft not to get that they're now a couple. Who was able to catch the "sweetheart" reference?
• The cave scene was brilliantly executed! Thumbs up to Michael Gambon for such a moving performance. I was near tears to see Dumbledore so helpless.
• Harry crying in Ginny's arms was nice. No Spiderman break-up scene in this movie so I'm thinking it might happen in DH Part 1.
• The entire faculty and students raising their wands to take-out the Dark Mark. Hair raising! You have to be insensitive not to sob in that scene.
• Oh, and did I mention more Ginny in this film? Bonnie Wright is turning out to be such a beauty these days.

Now we go to the details that bothered me:

• Choppy editing. This has been my biggest gripe since OotP. The camera pans out too quickly and we are left wondering what happened to that previous scene.
• The sound quality. Maybe it had something to do with the cinema we were watching it at. Is IMAX any better?
• The revelation as to who was the Half-Blood Prince. I was like "huh"? Viewers who've never read the books will find themselves wondering how and why he ended up being called the HBP.