To an extent even greater than Order of the Phoenix, this Potter only takes a baby step forward, its central tale about Draco Malfoy’s (Tom Felton) attempts to assassinate wizened professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) so lean that it soon becomes a background concern, and culminates in a manner that-given the emotional and practical significance of said well-known tragedy-comes off as dispiritingly perfunctory. Which is all well and good, except that for those intimately familiar with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint), and the rest of the wizardry gang, there’s no surprise, only obligation, to be found in experiencing the remainder of these big-screen Potter adaptations, of which this sixth is at once rich in character and wispy in narrative. David Yates’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince doesn’t bother with establishing backstory-at this point, if you’re not a Hogwarts alum, you have no business here in the first place.
