These two fans appeared at opening night at the Rave Theater in Hoover.

Check out some reviews from early bird moviegoers.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Opening Night Review #1

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Opening Night Review #2

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” dispels the gloom found in the latest Potter movies by focusing on how much the three stars have grown since the series began.

Harry, Ron and Hermione (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, respectively) are not little kids anymore, and Director Davis Yates wants the audience to know it.

Life at Hogwarts takes center stage in this installment as it develops teen romances between the famous wizard and Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright, who really comes into her own), as well as the hinted relationship between Ron and Hermione, who does a good job at playing a rejected lover while it’s necessary.

The midnight premiere audience howled with laughter when Ron eats a box of Harry’s chocolates laced with a love potion and his resulting obsession.

Yates serves two masters in this film: those of the books and those of the movies, and it trying to please both failed to really please either one.

Screenwriter Steve Kloves is so absorbed in allowing the kids to grow up he forgets about most of the plot. Few scenes important to the series overall appear, and the ones that do appear are not explained for people who have not read the books.

This is not to say the movie is not worth seeing. Audience members spent over half the movie laughing, and this movie is just good fun. Then again my philosophy to movies is make me laugh.

While Radcliffe remains flat with his delivery of non-comedic lines, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) gives his best performance to date. He believably appears as a guy who might loose his life if he fails, tears and all.

Also noteworthy is a class act of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) who captures the audience with dramatically drawn out lines people have learned to expect over the years.

This movie is rated PG, unlike the previous Potter movies, for a scary scene at the end. It receives seven out of 10 stars for comic entertainment.