I thought Half-Blood Prince was quite good. The young stars have matured a great deal in their acting skill, and have greatly benefited from being surrounded by the cream of the British drama crop.
It's been a while since I read the book, but the explanation of the title isn't very prominent there, either, if I remember correctly. I always thought that title was a bit misleading since the Half-Blood Prince really isn't all that important to the story, at least not the way the title elements of the other books are.
I was a bit disappointed that they didn't include the scene of
click to show/hide spoilersDumbledore's funeral
, but from a creative standpoint I understand why it wasn't included. That scene would have required a lot of extras and special effects and would have drawn attention away from Harry's story. I was also sorry not to see
click to show/hide spoilersthe growth of the romance between Tonks and Lupin
, but again, including that would have taken away from something else unless they wanted to make the movie six hours long.
Except for those minor quibbles I was very pleased with it.