Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (12A)

"Confused? I’d be surprised if you weren’t,” Professor Dumbledore tells his young wizard pupil at one point during this latest, lengthy instalment of the J K Rowling franchise.

It’s been longer than planned between Potter movies after last autumn’s release was postponed when distributor Warner Bros found itself without a big summer 2009 blockbuster and decided to use Harry to plug the hole. So keeping up with all the comings and goings of the Potter story demands your full attention and those not obsessed with the young wizard’s tale may find themselves confused, as the Prof so rightly points out.

%movie(20472)Watch the trailer for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (12A)

David Yates directs as he did Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix – and does a considerably better job after last time’s disappointment.

Although the movie approaches a two-and-a-half hours running time, I still came out of the screening wondering why so little had happened. On reflection, it plays like an extended trailer setting up the test that Harry must take in the next film.

The makers always say the latest Potter film is darker than the last and this one does contain the death of a major character (which will come as no surprise to those who’ve read the books) that provides the movie with an emotional finale.

Before that we get some broad comedy in which Ron (Rupert Grint) is pursued – stalked more like – romantically by obsessed fellow Hogwarts pupil Lavender (Jessie Cave, a lively addition to the cast) while his sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) grows closer to Harry himself (Daniel Radcliffe).

Regulars such as Julie Walters, David Thewlis, Timothy Spall and Robbie Coltrane barely get a look in, allotted only the odd line or expression in the entire movie.

Michael Gambon has the lion’s share as Dumbledore with a cry of “Wands out, Harry” at every opportunity.

This episode’s main new character is Jim Broadbent’s potions professor Horace Slughorn, who makes a marvellous entrance disguised as an armchair. He has vital information in “chosen one” Harry’s battle against Voldemort which the young wizard spends most of the movie trying to get out of him.

Alan Rickman speaks ve-r-y-s-l-o-w-l-y in an effort to extend this role as nasty Severus Snape, although it’s left to Tom Felton’s long-time adversary Draco Malfoy to have a one-to-one wand fight with Harry.

Production-wise, this Potter looks the best of the lot with Yates and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel painting some striking pictures. And the opening assault on London’s Millenium Bridge by Death Eaters gets the movie off to a cracking start that it never quite manages to maintain.

ALSO OPENING Moon (15, 96 mins) David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones makes an auspicious directorial debut with this haunting, science-fiction drama penned by Nathan Parker. Actor Sam Rockwell carries the film almost singlehandedly as the man stationed on the moon who falls ill, meets his clone and finds himself trapped by a computer (voiced by Kevin Spacey) which is eerily similar to HAL from Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001.