While Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince still utilizes cheesy teenage romance scenes and subplots like the previous entries in these series, it is undeniably dark, much darker than its predecessors as every single scene seems to feature low key lighting which further enhances the onimous feel we get after watching the more serious scenes.Finally we once again have an entry that is able to equal the Prisoner of Azkaban in its cinematography, as the Half-Blood Prince has absolutely superb visuals. New cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel went for this unique look where nearly every scene spits out the atmospheric darkness that is within its sinister plot, and the result is the visuals tell the story in a great way. There are many great shots in the Half-Blood Prince, most of all the one in which Harry & Dumbledore try to grab the Horcrux in the cave, which is the epitome of fantastic cinematography due to the perfect angles & the obscuring yet detailed minimal lighting. As stated before ofcourse some of the cheesy teenage coming of age romance returns which might take your mind of the seriousness of the plot most of the time, but i found that it actually works quite well as it significantly enhances the character immersion between the three leads, which is ofcourse an essential aspect to keep. ( Especially towards the end of the series as we need to be interested in their fates )Rupert Grint & Emma Watson are once again outstanding as Ron Weasley & Hermione Granger. Daniel Radcliffe is once again not amazing as Harry Potter, but it's not that he becomes a serious weak spot that brings the movie's general core down ( See Kristen Stewart in Twilight for that... ). Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon & Jim Broadbent as professor Slughorn are most of the notable performances in the film, as the latter is a brilliant addition of a sympathetic Slytherin house character, something that was obviously quite lacking in previous films. We also get to explore Draco's ( Tom Felton ) character more in this one until we find out that he is not necessarily a bad kid as he was portrayed most of the time in its predecessors, but simply a product of indoctrination, most likely by his death eater parents.The final half hour is, like in most Harry Potter films, once again extremely satisfying, as it features the incredible visuals in the cave scene stated before and the emotional outburst after watching Dumbledore be betrayed and killed by Snape, after which an extended scene is filmed with various people surrounding Dumbledore with no dialogue while everybody is holding their wand up as an honor to the great magician. This is coupled by a fantastic emotional score by Nicholas Hooper who makes fantastic use of the violins to create that dramatic sound which equals what we feel after seeing such a close friend to the audience get killed. John Williams he is not, but the score in this film is still definitely worthwhile on its own, albeit not reaching the level of greatness of the first three films.While a lot of the film might seem like a filler ( For example when the death eaters attack Weasley house and suddenly disappear while only having destroyed the house, which seems a bit out of place ), it is in the end an important entry since it explains how Voldemort's immortality works, and serves as a crucial plot device in the final two parts of the series. While there is some shakycam in said scene of the Weasley house attack most of the film is very subtly and stylishly filmed with graceful camera movements, and therefore this scene can be forgiven of its camera shaking, even though the scene is obviously not one of the films finest parts.Unlike previous Harry Potter films, no joy can be gained by the dark visuals, as it embodies the sinister feel this film should have very well, instead the only joy we can hope to get is between the camaraderie between the three leads, and while these scenes might seem cheesy, but in the end they truthfully only enhance our bonding with them. Like in the Order of the Phoenix, the demise of an established main character hits hard and the following scene is the epitome of emotional immersion, as we see the characters also feel what we would expect them to feel, which results in the audience easily seeing themselves in their shoes.

I remember watching this in theaters with a friend, and by the time the movie was over and we were having dinner together, she fired a whole bunch of questions at me about the plot. She never read the books but she did enjoy the previous movies and was asking me about what she missed. I was happy to fill her in on the details. This is one of those school drama type of films but it's dark and funny both. There were some scenes that were changed, but at least Luna Lovegood was back and we get to see her doing more. It's not a bad film, but it's my least favorite of the film saga along with Goblet of Fire. Still, it wasn't bad to watch in theaters.

It's witty, yet still dark. While it does have to leave parts of the book behind, it captures the essence that made this book great. While Order of the Phoenix has some kinda lazy VFX, I felt this movie did an excellent job utilizing the effects in new ways. Tom Felton and Michael Gambon make incredibly standout performances here. I do have a considerable bias here considering this is my favourite book in the series.

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)' manages to keep the focus mostly on Hogwarts, giving Harry a mission to accomplish whilst also dedicating significant time to his friends and their teenage troubles, as well as always delivering on the promise of an unseen threat looming close by. Indeed, it's perhaps the darkest in the series so far. This bleak tone is bolstered by a ballsy ending that provides little in the way of levity or triumph. It balances its darkness with some lighter moments peppered throughout that satisfy without overdoing it. The flick is perhaps the most unconventional of the bunch, taking things back to basics with school-life front and centre, and this approach actually pays off while providing a nice counter-point to the two films that follow. 7/10