Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I do enjoy Harry Potter movies, but admittedly have not seen all of them. However, this evening I had the pleasure of going to my local IMAX theatre and enjoying the sixth movie in the Harry Potter series, called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The story progressed as Harry helped his mentor Dumbledore extract memories from his colleague, Professor Horace Slughorn. This memory took place in the past with a student. The student's name was Tom Riddle when he had a discussion about magic found in a restricted area and he wanted more information. Extracting the memory from Slughorn holds the key to destroying Voldemort. Once the memory is retrieved, then the mission begins.

Overall, I did enjoy the story line and I was engaged in the whole film. The movie was definitely geared for a younger audience, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. However, there was one important thing that I had trouble with. At the beginning, I found the 3D quite nauseating. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated all of the special effects, which is half the fun of going to a Harry Potter movie - the magic is what makes it so fun. However, I had to literally close my eyes for about a third of the first twenty minutes, because it was making my stomach turn.

On a more positive note, it was interesting to see the story unfold, and also to see the love interests develop between the young characters that we have gotten to know throughout the series. There was definitely a little more steam that I am use to seeing in a Harry Potter movie. Admittedly, I don't go to Harry Potter for that kind of entertainment, but in a high school kind of way, it was fun and added a different spin on the usual Harry Potter film.

Even though I enjoy Harry Potter's films, I don't think any of them compared to the first movie in the series. The Half-Blood prince was good entertainment value, as usual. However, it didn't hold a candle to the first one for me.