The latest Harry Potter movie was totally worth the wait! I, however, couldn't wait any longer than I had to so I went to see the midnight show just to be one of the first of the hundreds of movie goers in Bemidji, Minnesota to see it. Originally this movie was scheduled to be released during the 2008 Christmas season, but because of the vampire movie "Twilight," the studio (Warner Bros.) postponed the release of "Half Blood Prince" until the summer of 2009.

I was fortunate enough to know the right people to get tickets for the midnight show as July 14th was turning into the 15th and opening day was upon us here in the states. Thanks to Johnny Lee of Mix 103.7 FM in Bemidji for hooking up my friends Missy (the biggest Snape fan I've ever met), Samantha, Bozley and I up with tickets to see the sold out show at the Bemidji Amigo Theater. By the way, Bemidji is a very small city in Northern Minnesota with a population of roughly 13,000 or more and the only movie theater in town sold out three shows for the opening of HP6. Amazing! Thanks to JLW, we felt like VIP's at a movie premier!

I must say, I've always enjoyed the storyline of JK Rowling's series of books and the special effects of the movies. This movie didn't disappoint on either of those two things. I have only read the first book, sorry Ms. Rowling. I went to all of the movies after that, so I cannot say that this movie follows the 6th book in the series closely. Only a true Harry Potter book reader can give an honest review of how the movie and book mesh.

The action and characters were all well defined, and as I said, the storyline was easy to follow and action packed. Two of my favorite characters were Emma Watson's "Hermione Granger" and Alan Rickman's "Severus Snape." Hermione is just as spunky and outspoken as she has always been since day one, and Snape, well, he's as mysterious and dark as predicted, but even more so now (you'll just have to watch this movie...I'm not going to spoil it for you). Some characters, who you thought you knew before, may just surprise you by their actions, or possibly by their non-actions. Pleasantly there's even some moments that make you laugh, especially if you've lived through those awkward teenage years.

A note to parents about HP6, there are some scary parts that could easily startle children under the age of 10. Parents should see it first to get a good judgement of what they think their kids can handle. My friend who I went with has two children ages 6 and 4. As we were leaving the theater she said they won't see it until it comes out on DVD so she can explain it as they watch it, and so she can fast forward through some of the movie.

And, Ms. Rowling would be thrilled to know that this movie may just intrigue other non-readers like myself to go out and buy the books in order to delve deeper into the details of her characters and the subplots not included in the movies. (Sorry "Twilight" fans, but Rowling trumps Stephanie Meyer when it comes to character development and "Harry Potter" was cast a million times better from it's inception).

I left the movie theater this morning wanting more Harry Potter. Tomorrow I'll be buying book #7 just so I can get an idea of what's to come. Congratulations to Warner Bros. and JK Rowling on another big hit! They have once again succeeded in their partnership.

I am going to make this prediction: this movie will set new box office records that only the next Harry Potter movie can break.