Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Growing up means learning that the world is far more dangerous than it seemed when you were young. David Yates' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the series, picks up right where "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" left off. Lord Voldemort has truly returned, and Harry is now known as "the Chosen One," the only wizard who can defeat him. Dark forces press against the walls of Hogwarts, and this is no longer the whimsical world of the early stories - it's dark, dangerous and genuinely frightening. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects that his rival Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has become a Death Eater on a secret mission, while Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) begins private lessons to prepare him for what lies ahead. These gripping scenes reveal the dark past of young Tom Riddle, eerily played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane. Jim Broadbent is pitch-perfect as Professor Horace Slughorn, who holds a vital memory about Voldemort's darkest weapons, the Horcruxes, and Alan Rickman's Snape lurks in the shadows, his loyalties as murky as ever. Amid it all, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) still try to be ordinary teenagers, and their clumsy budding romances are a delight. The young cast delivers its most convincing performances yet. The stakes have never been higher, and while no film can capture every bit of J.K. Rowling's magic, this may be the best adaptation so far. Key moments, including the chilling cave sequence and the shocking twist near the end, are handled beautifully, and Bruno Delbonnel's Oscar-nominated cinematography gives it a haunting look. It sets the stage perfectly for the two-part finale.