Loosely based on...

I realize combining a 600-plus page book into a 2.5 hour movie means certain parts of the story will be cut, and I've found my way to make peace with the drastic cutting of characters in the Harry Potter movies... I still think they should play up Percy Weasley's story a little more, but I'm just one Potter fan who loves the Weasley family.
 
I didn't mind the fifth movie when they changed the sequence around around in a few places, I actually liked the way the brought in important elements from scenes deleted from the movies (how Harry found out what happened to Neville's parents was redone nicely).
 
However, I strongly object to the movie when it changes the entire focus of the story line. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince did exactly that. I enjoyed the movie, yes, and a I highly recommend seeing it at the Independence Commons IMAX! But I thought the producers focused too much on the romances between the students and not enough on what the book was really about.
 
Half the movie, Harry spent trying to uncover a memory from the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. In the book Dumbledor already knew the information the movie had Harry seeking. And half the book was Harry and Dumbledor out seeking the horcruxes. The other half of the book was Harry finding out more about his parents through the potions book that used to belong the the Half Blood Prince. The book is about the Half Blood Prince and that potions book, and it's barely mentioned in the movie.
 
I understand the need to condense, but I think the movie would have been better suited with less romance from the students (especially considering that didn't really follow how these romances happened in the book, either) and more on what Harry learned about himself, his family and Lord Voldemort... you know, the important stuff that helps us get to the end of the series.
 
I do have to say I like the way they handled the big death scene at the end. It had much more of an impact on me than it did in the book.
 
I'll still own the sixth movie eventually, but I would definitely say it wasn't my favorite. While I appreciate the return to day-to-day life at Hogwarts (just like I did in the book), I don't think the story line needed to have been compromised so much to fit it in.