Harry and his friends try to find the pieces of Valdemort's soul, and to stop a plot by the Deatheaters to infiltrate Hogwarts.

The best of the darker second half of the Harry Potter series. this movie has so much going on, and it's no longer than any of the previous ones. It builds on the knowledge we've gained previously, and shows us magic, death and above all -friendship that turns to love. Ron and Hermione's relationship has been antagonistic from the start, and she gave Harry way more hugs in the last few movies, but it feels right that they should be together. Meanwhile, Ginny's love for Harry, while shown from the start in the books, here reaches its crescendo, and it feels fairly natural. The bonds that Ron, Hermione and Harry have built up are stronger here than ever, even though Ron has another girlfriend. It felt like this movie was too short for the amount of stuff it presented, from the hoarcruxes to the relationships, the new professor, and of course Snape. For only the second movie, Valdemort doesn't show up, acting only by proxy. The world feels fully developed now, and having spent time at the Universal Studios parks with all these same places and things, it makes it more enjoyable.

While it's not perfect, this movie has so many terrific elements that it sits up at the top of the series for me. The friendships are finally growing into love, the plot around Valdemort is thickening, and Dumbledore is finally showing us that he's doing something to help defeat the evil wizard. The inclusion of Slughorn was brilliant, because he's a coward but still can't help himself continuing his old life.

I kind of liked the way the writers turned this into a love story. The overall material is dark, with murder attempts and the death of a major character, so it was really nice to see the playful attitude between Ron and Hermione, with the added triangle of Lavender, and especially the dynamics between Harry and Ginny. Where in the book, Hermione knows about their feelings but stays quiet, here it's done in a way that they both know about the unrequieted love, and can support each other. The movie does a really good job moving from one major event to the next, while leaving behind the things that the book does better. I don't know what the first scene was about, in the metro, but I suppose it set up Harry's love life.

The movie really enhanced the book, just recently read, and I was able to fill in the missing gaps. I liked being able to visualize everything that happened. Having the characters grow and grow together was a lot of fun, especially seeing Ron and his girlfriend, with the pouting Hermione.

Knowing what is to come, I think it's now obvious that Snape was told by Dumbledore that he had to murder the headmaster and take the plunge, or else Valdemort would win. There were several scenes hinting at this, and Dumbledore was ovbiously pleading with Snape to do it. I wonder what is to come of this development. I do find it odd, though, that in a school of magic, that nobody can catch a body falling from a high tower. I also didn't see any blood.

Although well made, and interesting, there really wasn't a lot to this movie. It focused a lot on the teenage romances, on getting people together as couples. The character work was great, though. Plotwise, the real surprise comes as Snape kills Dumbledore, and we wonder if the Magus will come back like his Pheonix, and if Snape has really changed sides. I liked the romance between Ginny and Harry, and the new professor provided some great moments, as well. Not the best Potter movie, but still good. It didn't feel as long as it actually was, which is a good sign.