'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (PG)(out of four)

In the opening moments of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," evil whiffs of black smoke careen through a quaint town creating havoc. Commuters walking across a bridge are tossed about as the smoke flies at lightning speed, undoing bridge girders and sending them tumbling into the water. The swirling mists are a perfect start for this dark sixth installment of the boy wizard, foretelling the twists and turns ahead.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) makes his first appearance seated in a small diner and peering out from behind a newspaper that chronicles the account of the latest peril. Meanwhile, in the column next to the breaking news story is the heading "Harry Potter: The Chosen One?"

This sets the stage for a rewarding 153 minutes of the magic we've come to expect from Rowling's books that have been turned into cinematic spectacles. Book fans will take notice that that writer Steve Kloves, who was behind four of the previous five films, and director David Yates, had to do some nips and tucks to Rowling's 652-page text, but, at least for those not so passionate about each word, the story doesn't suffer.

The usual suspects return with Harry and friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), who are not only facing the challenges of being wizards, but of raging teen hormones.

While Harry is trying to fight off Draco Malfoy (Tom Fenton) and a group of Voldemort's Death Eaters, plus extract a buried memory of new Hogwarts' professor of potions Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent who appears to be channeling the Wizard of Oz) at the request of Prof. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), he also has to contend with burgeoning feelings he's having for Weasley's sister, Ginny (Bonnie Wright). As you can see, there's a lot going on for this Chosen One, both personally and professionally.

In this story of good versus evil, the battle of unrequited love has been pumped up. Hermione is realizing her feelings for Ron, and while these "High School Musical" plotlines slow down the film, they also keep things real. Rowling, the mistress of the well-crafted story, creates the necessary polar opposite with the freshness of blossoming love to the poignancy of an elder's tragic death.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" delivers all of the expected bells and whistles, sepia-tone photographs that come alive inside border frames, underwater demons that float to the surface when incited, rapid fire scenes of the Death Eaters leaving their Satanic trail of black smoke, and of course, the fast-flying Quidditch game. And while we don't see the adult Lord Voldemort in this film, a plotline revealing the evilest boy in the world, Tom Riddle, is particularly intriguing.

Helena Bonham Carter as leather-clad Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange is absolutely enthralling in her giddy insanity, while Alan Rickman continues his dark-clad slithering as Professor Severus Snape. Maggie Smith, who has earned more noticeable wrinkles since the last installment, hasn't much to do this go around as the Headmistress. Gambon plays headmaster Albus Dumbledore as a wise sage, and is so convincingly headstrong as he drinks poison from a scooped shell that you can almost feel the slow burn.

Fans who are heads over broomsticks over Potter will have reason to revel; "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is satisfying on many levels.