Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Directed by David Yates, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince follows Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) as they face a series of challenges during their tumultuous sixth year at Hogwarts. Filmmaker Yates, working from Steve Kloves’ script, delivers a prototypically overlong and erratically-paced endeavor that seems to be spinning its wheels for much of its 153 minutes, with the meandering vibe undoubtedly compounded by a midsection that devotes far too much time to fairly irrelevant happenings and episodes (eg the continuing emphasis on the central trio’s less-than-captivating romantic exploits). There’s consequently little doubt that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, though consistently watchable, isn’t able to wholeheartedly sustain the viewer’s interest through its exceedingly (and excessively) bloated midsection, although, having said that, the picture does benefit from Yates’ solid handling of several of the source material’s most compelling and memorable interludes (eg Harry’s encounter with Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy aboard the Hogwarts Express). By the time it progresses into an impressively gripping (albeit frustratingly dimly-lit) third act, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has firmly cemented its place as a for-fans-only entry within an often distressingly hit-and-miss series of films.

*** out of ****