Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Critic Reviews

This film is the sharpest since "The Prisoner of Azkaban." It is the most emotionally satisfying, blending spot-on comedy and adenoidal sexual tension, with scenes of gutsy vulnerability.Read the full review

But the story is, still and all, only a pause, deferring an intensely anticipated conclusion. And it's in that exquisite place of action and waiting that this elegantly balanced production emerges as a model adaptation.Read the full review

This one-of-a-kind film cycle has become as comfortable and reliable as an old shoe, providing a degree of dependability that's becoming increasingly rare.Read the full review

Dazzlingly well made and perhaps deliberately less fanciful than the previous entries, this one is played in a mode closer to palpable life-or-death drama than any of the others and is quite effective as such.Read the full review

One of the series's best, with spectacular effects, nuanced performances and witty dialogue.Read the full review

Getting lost in the hypnotic Half-Blood Prince is what gives the movie its haunting power.Read the full review

David Yates, in his go at the helm, throws the emphasis on the gathering storm clouds even as Harry and his fellow wizardry students make further discoveries involving the opposite sex.Read the full review

I admired this Harry Potter. It opens and closes well, and has wondrous art design and cinematography as always, only more so.Read the full review

This is the darkest, saddest, most sophisticated Harry Potter film yet.Read the full review