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If not for rapid aging of the young and talented cast, I’m sure Warner Bros. would
have opted to film Harry Potter books 4,5 and 6 in two parts rather than just the seventh and last one. Not only would they have been able to include more of each novel, the cash flow would have risen above the stratosphere.

It had been a good while since I had read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
So fortunately for me, when I watched it, I wasn’t very sure of the parts that were left out, unless I had read about them in some entertainment news article or another review.

Fans of the boy wizard (including yours truly) have shown up at theaters en masse despite Warner CEO Alan Horn’s radical release dat e change which left many of us bitter and garnered plenty of hate mail on his computer.

As Harry and company have matured, so have the movies themselves. And this penultimate chapter of Jo Rowling’s popular series illustrates perfectly just how far our heroes and villains have come since The Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince sports the usual magic we’ve grown accustomed to, but director David Yates wisely overtakes this with dramatically strong emotions- especially from the proverbial teen hormone.

Despite Harry’s heroic efforts in Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort and his dark forces are still a lot to be reckoned with. There’s a reckless manisfestation in London when death eaters crossover into our world and reek havoc throughout the city as well as the wizarding world. It’s an opening that seizes your attention, making you and I as “muggles” feel like we’ve become part of this world-at least temporarily.

It’s apparent that states of affairs have grown ever more serious. So Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) takes Harry on a trip down memory lane, showing him the origins a young wizard named T om Riddle before he became the one -who- must- not -be- named. He must do whatever is necessary to prepare Harry (the chosen one) for his eventual, inevitable showdown with the dark lord. “This place has known magic-very dark, very powerful. This time, I cannot hope to destroy it alone”, the headmaster confides to Harry.

Beneath the surface of these dangerous times the kids still have quality time for the usual teen angst concerning love, jealousy, obsessive infatuation and even well placed confidence. Except for the ability to create some of these feelings in a potion, the differences between us and them have always been quite minimal.

One new face who has to deal with our sixth year students is professor Slughorn
played by the lovable Jim Broadbent. He is recruited by Dumbledore as the new teacher of potions. However, there is an underlying purpose involving him, Harry and the dark wizard that, for those who haven’t read the book, proves to be a crucial element regarding Voldemort. Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy has become more menacing this year, taking a more  primary role than in the previous films. He and Harry still have that seemingly innate hatred for each other which makes it enjoyable to watch them face off. Draco9 9s been given a certain mission with the ever ambiguous Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) as his guide.