Early 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' reviews are in: The verdict? It's a winner

July 7, 3:15 PMBook ExaminerMichelle Kerns

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With a mere eight days until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince hits theaters, early reviews from the media's Chosen Ones are pouring in and the response is like a draught of firewhiskey for the parched Potter-head's soul.

The Daily Mail gushes like a school-girl who's just taken a big bite out of a love potion-laced Chocolate Cauldron:

The film looks great and Delbonnel gives the picture a palette of dark hues that lure us into the story and keep us there. I looked at my watch just once during the 153 minute running time, and that was to work out whether I had time to race to the loo. But I stayed in my seat. I didn't want to miss a single moment.

Variety tries to act more detached and cynical, but clearly gives Half Blood Prince the thumbs up:

Director David Yates, after a prosaic series debut on the prior film, displays noticeably increased confidence here, injecting more real-world grit into what began eight years ago as purest child's fantasy; messenger owls and chattering house elves have been superseded by a frank Underground tea-room flirtation, school security checks and raging teenage hormones. The sets have been stripped down to reduce Hogwarts' fairy-book aspects and emphasize its gray medieval character, and even the obligatory Quidditch match is staged with greater attention to spatial comprehensibility than ever before.

The film is clear-headed and clean-lined; now that he's at home with the material, Yates has made a "Potter" picture that is less desperate to please than any of its predecessors, itself a sign of series maturity.

The Guardian fancies the film series is moving towards a Lord of the Rings feel and likes that idea just fine:

...director David Yates knows how to play all the cards. Although a touch ungainly, his film is solidly constructed, with lots of fine effects. If, as Potter approaches his final confrontation with Voldemort, the wizardly battles begin to resemble Lord of the Rings, it's hardly a handicap; this is tried and tested cinematic language, and does all it needs.

CHUD sounds as if they consider Half Blood Prince worth splitting your soul over:

Is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the best Harry Potter film yet? Oh yes. Is it one of the best films of the year? Oh yes again.

Could a Harry Potter film make a showing at the Oscars in a non-technical category? If Warner Bros plays their cards right I believe that they could easily wrangle a nod for [Jim] Broadbent, who plays new Potions teacher Horace Slughorn.

If you're not onboard with the Potter films don't even think of jumping aboard with this one. While Half-Blood Prince is so good that I think it would charm even the most jaded Potter non-believer, the film makes no bones about being the sixth in a series.

In fact, Half-Blood Prince feels like the most grown-up Potter film yet when it comes to the menace of the bad guys. They're everywhere, and they're casually evil. While the death of Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire was a stunner, Half-Blood Prince carries a constant presence of malice, and it feels like any kid could be killed at any moment.

 

Hollywood.com is pondering a possible Best Picture nomination for Half Blood Prince; The Sun calls it "confident," "stylish," and "masterful"; The Hollywood Reporter says it's the most "vigorous" of the Harry Potter films. Huzzah to all that.

The real test, however, is going to come as the clock ticks over from 12:00 to 12:01 in jam-packed theaters everywhere in the wee hours of July 15th.  As we've seen time and time again, what the Chosen Ones have to say about bookish films sometimes resembles the reaction of the book's diehard fans about as much as a Fizzing Whizbee resembles a Hungarian Horntail.

Variety warns that certain parts of the book's climactic scene have been altered (Please, please don't let it be too extreme: I've been waiting years to see -- and weep over -- that bit) and that a number of narrative switcheroos were made, including the decision to hold off the introduction of Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour until the first part of the Deathly Hallows movie. 

The reaction from devout Potter-philes after early screenings of Half Blood Prince was tepid at best, with fans of the books complaining that too many liberties were taken with the plot. Take a look at what they had to say here.

Potter-fans have high hopes for Half Blood Prince: it's been a long dry spell since the emotional end of the series and more than a few Potter lovers are ready for a little something to wash the taste of the omnipresent Twilight out of their mouths. Along with all of my fellow Potter-heads, I sure hope this movie does the trick.  

Cast your gaze here, Potter-heads:

10 best books for treating Harry Potter withdrawal

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince featurette

Predictions on where the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows split will occur

The Book Examiner Team Twilight vs. Team Harry Potter debate: a polite and intelligent literary fracas (and may I say here, please, people -- quit snarking on me for comparing the two. These are the two biggest literary phenomenons of the modern book world; it's perfectly natural to ponder the similarities and differences between the two.)

Watch a documentary following J.K. Rowling during the year she wrote the final book of the Harry Potter series

The 5 most annoying literary romances...and the five most romantic ones (here's a hint: Harry and Ginny are in one of these categories)

What makes a good book to movie adaptation? 5 great bookish movies...and 5 lousy ones

10 reasons for the popularity of Twilight (why would I suggest Potter-heads read this? Simple: in my opinion, the number 1 reason for the popularity of Twilight is Harry Potter. Agree? Disagree? Confused? Take a look at and see what you think)

Wiz-rock bands

Harry Potter spoofs: Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart  and Harry Potter meets Pride and Prejudice

Photo credits: thehauntedforest.org; screenrant.com