Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Review - No Spoilers!
I just finished watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I liked it, a lot, but didn't love it. You can tell from the get-go that the movie is darker than the rest and that there will be much more sexual tension between characters (the beginning scene Harry is checking out a hot young thing at a tube station diner).
I felt that the movie didn't capture me nearly as much as previous movies had, but this Harry Potter was still one of the better movies I have seen in a while.
The special effects were just ok, but the camera angles, oh the camera angles! They were beautifully constructed!
Another strong point was the timing of the comic relief throughout the whole movie, which was usually delivered by none other than Ron Weasley - and who else would you expect? You can also see that the acting abilities of each character has grown exponentially along with their teen hormones. And on the topic of teen hormones, the tension among characters was weaved in very tastefully, making it appropriate for all ages (there was some adult humor thrown in there, but it was vague enough that children will be none the wiser and us grown-ups will get a nice chuckle).
Anybody who has enjoyed the previous movies in the Potter franchise will adore this one (there were a few hundred people lined up outside the theater sneering at me while I waltzed pass with my prescreen pass in hand - I heard that some of them had been there since 8:30am!) But although the movie was good by movie standards, it certainly wasn't the best of the series. With that being said, if you aren't a die-hard Potter fan you should probably wait until the crowds thin out, that way you can watch the movie in peace without the talking (and screaming) kids and the packed theaters.
Overall I would give Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 4/5 stars... it was good but not excellent, plus it is very difficult for a film of this magnitude and hype to live up to expectations.
