Every time a Harry Potter movie comes out, I try and not measure it by the book and consider how it stands on its own as a work. Obviously, this is not an easy task, especially when the filmmakers continually feel compelled, out of a sense of fan loyalty, to make these films as true to the books as possibly without making it a staged reading of the novel. Half-Blood Prince gets a leg up on its predecessors because it’s the first Harry Potter movie made knowing the ending and the details on getting their laid out in the seventh and final book, which was released during the film’s pre-production. Much like how TV’s Lost found its way once the producers knew the end point, so it seems it’s true with the Potter series.

The film starts with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) chilling out at a diner in a subway station (or tube station as they say in Britain), checking out the latest grisly news in the wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet. But Harry’s mind isn’t entirely on the dreary news of the day, and he flirts with the attractive waitress while there. Yes, Harry Potter flirts. Awkwardly, mind you, but it’s a flirt nonetheless. The scene sets the tone just right for Half-Blood Prince, which is two parts romantic-comedy and one part seriously dark wizard stuff.

Director David Yates, returning after Order of the Phoenix, demonstrates an enormous comfort with the material, thus allowing him to play with it to a greater degree of latitude than the films and filmmakers that came before. Again, I credit the release of the final book because being less concerned about what plot points are important allows the script to be more selective and instead of wondering what’s important later, everyone involved can focus on the one area the films have been lacking: character. Ron (Rupert Grint) gets more screentime as he becomes a Quiddich all-star and tries to balance a relationship with the overly affectionate Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) and staying on speaking terms with Hermione (Emma Watson) despite her obvious jealousy.

Indeed, the Potter world seems to crackle with new energy. Alan Rickman returns some level of menace to Professor Snape after being relegated to a kind of comic relief part in the last couple of films. Maggie Smith balances the sentimental side of Professor McGonagall with her sterner tendencies in a couple of nice scenes. Also making the most of her limited screentime is Helena Bonham Carter, who proves that she was made for Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort’s right-hand henchwoman, and the one scene where she works off Rickman is just dynamite. The biggest new addition though Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the new Potions master. Broadbent wonderfully captures the avarice and regret of Slughorn making him both a funny and pitiful character.

But by far this film belongs to the kids. Tom Felton as Harry’s erstwhile school nemesis Draco Malfoy gets a chance to shine as the true foil in the film. Felton lays aside Malfoy’s traditional role as the smug and confident bully, to play up the conflict and turmoil his character endures in The Half-Blood Prince. There are scenes where he’s sitting alone in the dark that are somehow both menacing and miserable. I know in real life that Felton gets kids running away from him, which is tribute to how commanding he was when Malfoy was the Nelson Muntz of Hogwarts, but it’s good to know that when the time came, Felton was able to find the softer side of Malfoy. As for Radcliffe, I think that by the time the final credits roll on The Deathly Hallows he may have found his inner Harry. In Half-Blood Prince he’s pretty close, and the script allows him to be more proactive and more like the Harry we all know from the book.

Obviously, the technical specs on Half-Blood Prince are excellent. I’d love to see it in IMAX to get the full measure, but on the regular big screen the razzmatazz works perfectly fine, thank you. The cinematography is gorgeous, the editing is well-paced and smooth and the effects are incredibly well done. Despite a clunky beginning and end, Half-Blood Prince is the first film to really bring a Harry Potter book to full-blooded life on the big screen. Speaking of the book, a few of the changes bothered me, but not enough to stymie an overall positive movie experience. For future reference, having a continuity of filmmakers helps a lot when making a series, and more than that, knowing where you’re going before you start is the biggest help of all.