Despite the hysteria Harry Potter is a phenomenon I've very much watched from the sidelines. Having read the first two books I got bored and decided to leave it to the cinematic versions for me to continue the journey. It is widely viewed and my own opinion that the first three films were not a patch on the LOTR trilogy that came out at the same time. I found them enjoyable but ultimately a little bit dull. As a result I lost some interest in the series, watching the more recent films on DVD and not really paying too much attention to their content. This week and upon large amounts of persuasion I went off to see the latest in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Although unoriginal for me the latest adventure of HP has thankfully copied the greatest of the Star Wars films, the Empire Strikes Back. The new HP film is a good film because it is a lot darker than the earlier films and ultimately (SPOILER) the baddies win. This is the first time I’ve come out a Harry Potter film and said I can’t wait for the next instalment and that, my friends, is a good thing. In summary the film had a great pace, some memorable set scenes and a build up of tension that is actually quite hard to achieve. With all this said, however, I still have my reservations of the series and this is largely around the casting of the characters in film number one. Whilst the senior talent has always been impressive (essentially a who’s who of British actors), I’ve always felt that the younger actors (especially Daniel Radcliffe...Potter himself) simply aren’t and have never been strong enough to carry the series. That said I thought Tom Felton who plays Draco Malfoy, a central role in this instalment, was pretty decent this time around. The last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is now being split into two separate films, out Christmas 2010 and Summer 2011. I haven’t read the book so I’m not sure if this is a wise move but judged on the strength of the film just seen I might at least now add it to my reading list.