There’s a very fine line a director walks anytime they undertake adapting a book to a film. Especially if that book happens to be the next-to-last in one of the most beloved series in modern literature. You have to find the right balance of being true to the book while at the same time making a compelling film that shortens the book’s extensive storyline into a watchable amount of time.

So I’m very happy to say that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince delivers. And then some.

To set the record straight: I’m a longtime Potter fan. And Half Blood Prince ranks as probably my favorite book in the series. So I was truly hoping the film could capture the spirit of the book and deal effectively with all of the dangers Harry must face: rivalries, dark wizards and, not to be discounted, teenage hormones.

For anyone expecting a direct-from-book-to-screen translation, stop that. Because there was simply no conceivable way for that to be done in anything under five hours or so. However, what we do get is a fantastic movie that still winks at the audience and says “You still need to read the book.” Which I consider a plus, since when the first movie was released a friend of mine was insisting that making the films would result in children no longer reading the books when they could just watch the movies.

Yes, I was disappointed by several things left out of the film. And rather upset that at least one event from the final book was included in this film seemingly in place of a rather vital battle scene. There’s also a considerable number of characters who do not appear in the film, including Percy Weasley, Bill Weasley, Fleur DeLeCouer, the Gaunt family, Dobby, Kreacher and Rufus Scrimgeour.

But what’s not in the film isn’t really the point. Because there is enough IN the film that you aren’t left feeling as if something major was missing. And the cast makes this installment; the very natural chemistry between the three leads, Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson is well depicted, and Tom Felton’s portrayal of Draco Malfoy made me sympathize with the on-screen character far more than I have ever sympathized with the book version. Helena Bonham Carter is wonderfully mad as dark witch Bellatrix LeStrange while Evanna Lynch shines in her few scenes as Luna Lovegood, managing to make the strange and flightly character seem absolutely natural. Alan Rickman’s performance as an extremely conflicted and possible turn-coat Professor Snape added layers to the character that left me actually wondering if he would go through with “it” at the end, despite knowing what happened in the books.

And if you don’t know what “it” is? I refuse to spoil it for you.

One of the few things I did feel hurt the film was the fight to keep the rating at PG. While I realize this was done because of the large under-13 fanbase that Potter maintains, there were some scenes that just didn’t quite come across as dark enough, though one in particular did make me (and the people sitting immediately to my left and right) shriek, despite all of us knowing precisely what was coming. However, afterwards it wasn’t quite as shocking because zombies aren’t quite as scary when they look like Gollum. And the huge death that occurs is shot in such a way as to minimize the view of the dying body, which makes the whole thing go a bit too fast for the drama of the scene. However, it does also serve a point: while for fans that scene may have drawn-out because of the horror of what happens, in “reality” it would have been over with fairly quickly.

All in all, it was a great film in and of itself and a perfect build up to the final two films (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be broken into two parts in order to give proper attention to all of the wrap-ups and revelations that are a part of the novel). Allowing the young cast to grow up together and resisting the urge to recast is one of the best decisions made in this series because, as is true in the books, the friendships between the characters are more powerful than any box office draw or dark wizard out there.