Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Visually the most elaborate piece of nothing yet. An empty script in which Emma Watson overacts her sad and jealous grimaces, Potter chases everyone but the right girl, and the third guy in the bunch is totally out of touch with the reality of what's going on. There's an excruciatingly large amount of high school romance and damn little action or drama in the story, and the little there is, it barely lasts a few minutes or is at the end. A woefully lacklustre and uninteresting episode that served only as a prelude to the grand finale. (26/06/2023)

Certainly the most cinematically accomplished and best made Harry Potter film (so far). I really like Yates’ approach to the material, and what he started in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is brought to near perfection here. The bridge demolition scene is absolutely stunning, and add 3D to the mix. :) The fact that the films don't work much with the books they’re based on has annoyed me a little (or maybe a little more), but Yates' Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has great pacing (despite the rather long romantic storyline) and those slightly drawn-out two hours flew by unbelievably in the cinema. I don't understand the users who rate this flashy bit of cinema and acting 2 stars... A film is a film and a book is a book. 4.5 stars (11/08/2009)

For me, this is the most messed-up film adaptation of the Harry Potter books, mainly because the creators focused mainly on that one scene at the end and kind of forgot that the story has something more to it. Yes, it is much more for adults, parents can watch it and enjoy it too, but here the original material got quite badly beaten. (03/02/2014)

Considering Yates managed to get something out of the most superfluous part of the book that ends up not working because of that superfluousness (aka zero action), then I have nothing left to do than look forward to the adaptation of book seven which might at last aspire to toppling Cuarón’s offering from its position of best Harry Potter movie adaptation. (20/07/2009)

It's unfortunate that the conversational aspect from the life of teenagers returns. I'm used to the undersized story, but I’m simply not interested in the emotional chatter of the little wizards. It’s a good thing that Yates gets the film going decently again in the second half. After the promising fifth film, it was confirmed to me again that the film version of Harry Potter is a precisely treated product, but there is no great magic – it disappeared with the departure of Oldman and the influx of hormones. Fans will be pleased, the infidels will not be offended, and the film will amuse and do no harm. Stupefy... not a chance. [65%] (13/07/2009)