With David Thewlis, Natalia Tena, Mark Williams, and Julie Walters adding their own brand of emotional reality to proceedings, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince feels like a genuine ensemble effort that continues to elevate this franchise.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 29, 2024

Though perhaps not the best directed of the six films thus far, it’s certainly the most affecting and proves, beyond measure, the emotional toll these characters have had on their audience over the last eight years.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 4, 2023

...a for-fans-only entry within an often distressingly hit-and-miss series of films.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 26, 2021

Simultaneously the most mature and the most entertaining; the days of playful sorcery and lighthearted misadventures are long gone.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 28, 2020

While we've always seen touches of brilliance in Radcliffe's work, the most surprising growth comes in the performances of Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 10, 2020

Director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves crafted a challenging and decidedly mature film that paves the way perfectly for the two-part finale.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 16, 2020

There is an overriding sense of urgency in the penultimate film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which moves at breakneck speed from the opening sequence itself.

| Feb 28, 2020

Good film directed for a teenage audience in which not only is magic taught but also how stereotypes affect it while the film itself recreates some British stereotypes. [Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 11, 2019

It's competently executive as a movie, but as an adaptation... it's badly done.

| Jun 20, 2019

The most mature Potter film yet, dealing with emotional issues much stronger than any previous installment, and the young cast more than steps up to the plate.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 6, 2019

While the sixth chapter in the popular series from writer J.K. Rowling has some similar problems to its predecessor, it manages to inject some much needed magic and charm back into the franchise.

| Original Score: B- | May 16, 2019

With real chemistry between the characters, laugh-out-loud scenes of teen-wizard angst, and some truly spectacular cinematography, it may even be the best in the series.

| Oct 30, 2018

Since they do spend so much time on the teen hormone angle, I have to say that the Harry Potter-Ginny Weasley love story is disastrous in both book and film.

| Oct 30, 2018

... reaffirms the hypothesis that the sixth Harry Potter movie only constitutes of a "transitional" film, between the "little wizards" and the "senior wizards" that will face Voldemort in Potter's last magical battle. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 20, 2018

What I liked about this one is the mystery, which is always at the heart of a Harry Potter story.

| Jan 25, 2018

Any movie that works as a spy thriller, love story, and horror movie all at once is pretty remarkable. You might say it takes a fair amount of wizardry.

| Jun 28, 2016

Mostly I love Harry Potter for the actors

| Jun 1, 2015

I thought Rupert Grint came out of this the best of all of them.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 1, 2015

Half-Blood is a sustaining visit with beloved old (if not in age) friends.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 22, 2013

The movie can never shake the feeling that it's one big set-up, a meek prelude to the thrill ride to come in Deathly Hallows.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 22, 2013