Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009

Dan Kois, Washington Post: [Half-Blood Prince] might be the most enjoyable Harry Potter movie yet for people who don't particularly care about Harry Potter movies. Read more

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: This is a big summer movie that meets expectations. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: As the concerns of novelist Rowling's characters gravitate increasingly toward matters of the heart and the hormones, the Potter films are leaving childhood behind. Yet the friendship of the central trio remains the key to the magic. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the franchise's best so far, blending rich drama and easy camaraderie among the actors with the visual spectacle that until now has been the real star of the series. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince isn't great family entertainment -- it's great entertainment, period, a blockbuster with true heart and real humanity alongside the high-stakes struggles and brilliant effects. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Radcliffe, in particular, comes off bored and distant, more hitting the marks than baring the soul. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: No, it's not a larky kid-pic. We're firmly in the realm of English horror, as one set of sallow Brits battles another even sallower. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Potions play a pivotal part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I wish I'd been able to find one for patience. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: As its 2- 1/2 hours came to a close, I was happy to be reminded that we aren't yet done with Hogwarts, and that there's much pleasure in a story slowly told. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: This is the darkest, saddest, most sophisticated Harry Potter film yet. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Half-Blood Prince is plenty good in its own right as a stand-alone piece of entertainment. But it also serves the series well, delivering on perhaps its most-important requirement: It makes you really want to see the next one. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Steve Kloves has written five of the Harry Potter screenplays, and The Half-Blood Prince reeks of formula. Read more

Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader: Director David Yates presides over some gorgeous CGI set pieces, but all the real magic comes from the scrum of ace British character actors. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: So many actors shine in so many ways: Carter hisses deliciously, Broadbent sucks up beautifully. Watson shudders with frustration and heartbreak, Felton shudders with anger and fear. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It really helps in these situations to have first-rate actors. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: With its deft handling of teen yearning and affection, Half-Blood Prince maneuvers mysteries of heart and hankering that resound in worlds magic and Muggle. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: As beautifully made as it is -- and this may be the best-looking, best-directed Potter film yet -- there's an undeniable level of frustration built into Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The filmmakers have found a way to refresh our eyes and enhance our appreciation for this rich, amazing creation. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: I think it's the best of the series, fairly easily, and a testament to why occasionally throwing a massive budget at an endeavor of this scope can be considered a reasonable decision. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: "After all these years, I just sort of go with it," shrugs Harry Potter. Six films in, so do we. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: The Potter pictures have become the modern exemplars of establishment moviemaking. Read more

Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News: Half-Blood Prince shows the Potter film franchise and Rowling's story are in very good hands indeed. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The Harry Potter films will be regarded as one of the most remarkable series in film history, and Half-Blood Prince is the franchise's Empire Strikes Back. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The movie franchise based on J.K. Rowlings' novels gets its The Empire Strikes Back moment. It's a downbeat cliffhanger that suggests its central characters are exiting their age of innocence. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: All in all, despite the verve that drives the grander set pieces, it's hard to avoid the sensation of a film toiling overtime to convince itself of its own solemnity. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Visually, yes, this is another solid Harry Potter entry, with the same impressive sets and effects. But it also badly misses the presence of a new or at least formidable villain. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: It's a more mature magic. ... Now subject to the same raging hormones as any other 16-year-olds, our spell-casting heroes are learning to brew love potions this year, with results mostly played for laughs. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: As for the ever-impressive supporting cast, neither a delightfully befuddled Jim Broadbent nor a wild-eyed Helena Bonham Carter can upstage Alan Rickman, who again proves invaluable as the slithery Prof. Snape. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Suspenseful and artfully realized. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The lag time between the final books and the movies has drained much of the urgency from this screen adaptation, which, far more than any of the previous films, feels like an afterthought. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth and worst installment yet, is two and a half hours of paralyzing tedium, featuring another colossal waste of British talent and a plot a real witch couldn't find with a crystal ball. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: An emotional and involving installment in the hit-or-miss Harry movie series. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Half-Blood Prince is a bubbling cauldron of hormonal angst, rife with romance and heartbreak, jealousy and longing. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The sixth Harry Potter movie has its share of flaws but nevertheless represents solid entertainment, and it extends a remarkable streak for a franchise that has gone six deep without one failure. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I admired this Harry Potter. It opens and closes well, and has wondrous art design and cinematography as always, only more so. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Harry is better than ever, a triumph of visual wonder and emotional storytelling. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: The Half-Blood Prince is a beautifully paced feat of filmmaking, one that navigates potentially choppy shifts in scale with grace and ease. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Despite the preponderance of (PG-rated) snogging, there are pleasures to be found along this movie's meandering path. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Unlike most film series, the Potter movies haven't weakened along the way. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: While the romantic sweetness that it's peddling is a guilty pleasure, it's also a distraction from the gathering storm that the series had been charting so well. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The experienced team behind the Harry Potter movie series is comfortably in the groove with the sixth film, which plays down the fantastic elements and introduces contrasting playful teenaged romance and a new tone of adult gloominess. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: There is still magic, but it all has dramatic purpose -- and much of it points to the final two films. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: With Half-Blood Prince, again we have a stalwart, satisfying visualization of the Rowling cosmos. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: Longer than the last, the sixth episode of the adventures of the increasingly burdened magic warrior of Privet Drive is a more human affair than its predecessors. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is spellbinding, even though it is more grounded in reality and less fanciful than previous installments. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: 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 more

Scott Foundas, Village Voice: I'd be lying if I didn't say this movie gave me as much innocent pleasure as any I've seen this year. Read more