*spoiler alert: This post contains plot info!

A friend at work and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the midnight premiere yesterday (er, I mean, earlier today?). It was phenomenal, and despite our exhaustion today, we had a great time. I joked that I’m getting too old to do this sort of thing very often, but it was worth it last night. Here are some of my thoughts on the film:

Special effects: One word = WOW. The computer enhancement in this movie was unbelievable. I read an article in Wired recently that went behind-the-scenes into the fire effects, and it was uber-cool, so I had high expectations.

The cave scene was just as thrilling, freaky and terrifying as I had hoped. The Inferi reminded me of a cross between Gollum (Lord of the Rings) and Voldemort’s slimy body from HP4 (GOF). I knew it was coming – when the dead hand would reach up from the lake to grab Harry as he dipped the cup into the water – but I screamed in terror, nonetheless.

Fred & George’s shop in Diagon Alley was terrific – very nice effects and a good adaptation of the quirky trinkets described in the book.

Character development: Draco Malfoy is one of those characters whom we love to hate. This film put him in such a light that the audience could better understand the turmoil he was experiencing. The emotion and overwhelming burden that young Draco bore was played out beautifully, if not painfully.

Snape … oh, what to say about Severus? *sigh* Alan Rickman is such a perfect actor for the role of Professor Snape. Now that we know how the series ends with The Deathly Hallows, Snape’s role in this film was all the more poignant. The Unbreakable Oath scene with Narcissa Malfoy was exactly as I’d imagined it.

The boy Tom Riddle was creepy and very well cast, I thought. I loved the morphing effect of his face into Lord Voldemort!

Best dialog snippets: I almost cried when Hermione was having a meltdown on the stairs and she asked Harry how he felt when he saw Ginny with Dean. He put his arm around his weeping friend and remarked tenderly, “It feels like this.”

Although some parts of the astronomy tower climax were tweaked in the film (as mentioned below), I was so glad that Dumbledore’s last words to Snape were reserved intact. My heart sank as his wizened old eyes looked directly at Snape and he implored, “Severus … please.”

Cinematic creative license: I tried not to be too nit-picky about variations from the book, but there were certain things that I expected to see because they seemed so important in the book, and it was awkward to see the scenes played out differently on screen.

I was a little confused and disappointed that Harry was not invisible and immobilized during the scene atop the astronomy tower, but the film version worked ok.

The attention given at he beginning of the film to Slughorn and the importance of his memory was understandable, but I would have liked to have seen a bit more about Dumbledore’s journey to obtain the ring Horcrux. Perhaps the director will devote more attention to that in the final film(s), but it seemed to be glossed over.

I did not see the point in adding the scene about Harry and Ginny chasing Deatheaters into the corn field and having The Burrow burned to the ground. After all, the Weasleys’ home is an important element in the final book! I would have rather seen that 10 minutes or so devoted to something more in line with the story, like the aforementioned Horcrux hunt or the final battle on the grounds as the Deatheaters left Hogwarts with Snape and Malfoy.

Speaking of the final skirmish, I would have liked to have seen more dialogue between Snape and Harry at the end. That interaction is vital to the story, and it sets up Snape’s character all the more for the history that is to be unveiled in the final installment.

Also in that scene, I didn’t understand why they left out Hagrid and his dog, much less the Stunning attack on Professor McGonogal. There was Hagrid’s hut all ablaze, and those of us in the audience who had read the book were confused about why Hagrid didn’t come busting out of his home, fists flying. He just suddenly appeared in the next scene among the crowd as people hovered around to see Dumbledore’s body.

I will say that I didn’t mind skipping Dumbledore’s funeral. I thought the final shot of Fawkes flying into the horizon summed up the scenario nicely.

I also didn’t mind too terribly much that they let Luna find Harry on the train instead of Tonks. I suppose they were trying to portray Tonks as more mature in this film, but I still would have liked to have seen her with her trademark funky-colored hair, etc. She was a bit too conservative in her dress and mannerisms.

All in all, I thought the film was amazing. I’m only disappointed that it will be so long again before we see the final book on screen! I have to wonder how they are going to split the last book into two films. Here’s my guess: I think that Part I will end as Harry sees Snape’s Patronus of a doe, and Part II will pick up with his obtaining Gryffindor’s sword and reuniting with Ron. That’s my hunch; we’ll just have to wait and see!