Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price is a good movie that progresses the storyline in the now epic battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Before I talk about any of the other acting in the movie, much must be said about Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Severus Snape. The man is brilliant. Each word he speaks during the movie is embroiled with the hate that you know Snape has for Harry’s very existence and, at the same time, it is mixed with the hidden love that Potter fans know Snape had for Harry’s mother. For those of you who aren’t Harry Potter fans, Rickman is the same guy who played the bad guy in the first Die Hard, Hans Gruber. For this fan, it’s safe to say that without actors like Rickman, Smith, and Carter (more on them in a minute) this movie would be mediocre at best.

Two quick mentions for Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter who play Minerva McGonagall and Bellatrix Lestrange, respectively. They’re fantastic. Smith brings the class and dignity that one would expect of her to a role in fantasy movie that could be very easy to screw up. However, the poise and calmness that Smith adds to her character is noticeable and a good touch. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, no one could be a better Bellatrix Lestrange than Carter – a woman who has that crazy person look about her at all times! Carter’s ability to play a crazy person is evident in this movie and I think she really steps up to the plate and hits a home run as a lunatic. Excellent work by both of these talented actresses.

Daniel Radcliffe continues to do a good job as Harry Potter, though Radcliffe is aging quicker than they can film these movies!

Fans of the books know the plot of this movie, but the big event that takes place is the death of Albus Dumbledore at the hand (wand?) of Snape. Again, if you want to see good acting, then watch these two extremely talented actors in this critical scene for both the movie and the series. The reservation that Snape shows before he carries out the most secret of missions is tangible on the screen. And the way that he completes the mission (killing Dumbledore) with such nonchalance is performed brilliantly.

That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

This is a movie that Harry Potter fans have probably already gone out to see. But for those of you who haven’t seen it, you may want to consider giving it shot just for the acting of Rickman, Smith, and Carter alone. I think you’ll enjoy it.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I do plan on seeing it once I get back from my trip to Nashville later this week. I did see the earlier movies, though, and I have been impressed at how the movies are maturing much like the books matured.

At the same time, I don’t think that the people behind the movie had much of a choice – what with all of the main actors all entering their late teens and early twenties! Anyway, here is some more information on the movie from the Los Angeles Times:

After muggles packed the midnight shows, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” quickly slowed down at the box office and resembled, well, the last “Potter” movie.

The sixth film in the Warner Bros. series based on the bestselling books sold a studio-estimated $159.7 million worth of tickets in the U.S. from Wednesday through Sunday, exactly $20 million more than the last installment, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” did in its first five days in July 2007.

About $11 million of that difference can be attributed to the nearly 8% rise in ticket prices from 2007, according to data from the National Assn. of Theatre Owners. The other $9 million came from midnight shows Wednesday, when “Half-Blood Prince” earned $22.2 million. “Order of the Phoenix,” by contrast, earned $12 million from midnight shows when it also debuted on a Wednesday.

Pretty crazy, huh? I need to make a movie that brings in $400 million worldwide in a matter of five days!