How to Watch: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceStep 1: Admire a franchise that has matured, along with its main players. The well-played Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is an excellent next step towards the boy wizard saga’s inevitable end.

Step 2: Then feel sort of saddened by this. Gone is the wide-eyed innocence of a boy discovering a whole new world, and so we, too, are forced to move on. It’s getting bad. Voldemort (I, too, am not afraid to say it!) and his growing army of Death Eaters are wreaking havoc not only on the wizardry world but also in the Muggle world as well. Before he heads off to Hogwarts, Prof. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) tasks the older, wiser Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), aka The Chosen One, to get close to the new Potions professor, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), since he possesses something that may help stop Voldemort. Meanwhile, Harry and his best friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) spy Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) in very suspicious circumstances, and Harry is convinced Draco is a Death Eater set to do the Dark Lord’s bidding on a special mission. And he ain’t wrong.

Step 3: Don’t worry about it being too dark; this is perhaps one of the funnier Potter installments as well. It seems love is in the air in these Hogwarts’ parts, with not only new feelings springing up between Harry and Ron’s not-so-little sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) but also between Ron and Hermione. Egads, is it possible? Well, that remains to be seen. First, Ron has to realize his new girlfriend Lavender (Jessie Cave) attached to his lips could perhaps be a stalker.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceStep 4: You won’t believe how grown up these kids are now. Watson, in particular, has developed into quite a stunningly beautiful young lady – and has transferred her growing poise into her alter ego Hermione. As does Grint’s Ron, who has also much more confidence now. Radcliffe still has the unenviable job of having to play a young man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but at least his sense of humor shines through in Half-Blood Prince. Felton does some of the best work he has ever done in this series, as well. Gone is the smirking little shit, replaced by a much more mature – and somewhat tortured – Draco. As for the adults, Gambon’s Dumbledore continues to fascinate, as he portrays the elder wizard with more vulnerability than ever before, while Alan Rickman’s always spot-on performance as Snape takes on more importance in the story.  And for fans of the books, they get it right again by casting Broadbent as Slughorn.

Albus_DumbledoreStep 5: Praise director David Yates. It has to be difficult to inherit a series of movies already shaped by three different directors. But having gotten his feet wet with the slowest of the Potter movies, Order of the Phoenix, Yates, like the kids, has also honed his skills with Half-Blood Prince. The movie is pure Potter, capturing an ominous look and feel, while also highlighting the hope of brighter days with the kids as the new leaders. Yates also expertly guides his young charges, allowing them to explore and deepen their characters. And luckily, he’ll continue his reign with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows two-parter. I imagine it’s going to be hard to let go.

Level of difficulty in watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Easy as Hedwig flying through the air, delivering mail. Half-Blood Prince did not disappoint one of its No. 1 fans, who is very sad to think it’s going to be over after only two more Deathly Hallows movies.