As you were busy previewing HBO’s behind-the-scenes look at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, others were gathering their thoughts about the entire film.

The Warner Bros. film debuts on July 15. Here are some of the early reviews for the series’ sixth installment:

Variety:  “Dazzlingly well made and perhaps deliberately less fanciful than the previous entries, this one is played in a mode closer to palpable life-or-death drama than any of the others and is quite effective as such.”

Hollywood.com:  “I will be honest and say that heretofore, I was not a huge fan of the franchise; certainly I understood the popularity of the books and the films, but they just were not my cup of tea. Well, stand back because now the Potter-loving beast in me has been unleashed after having witnessed a film that was not only exquisite in its production values, but was also charming, funny, scary, enchanting, moving (stop me, the adjectives could go on and on) and dare I say, sexy. Brilliantly directed by David Yates (he directed 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a tour-de-force that combines style and substance, special effects and heart and most importantly great performances from all of the actors young and not-so-young.”

Hollywood Reporter:  “A jerky start of exposition and backstory gives way to vigorous storytelling in the latest chapter of Harry Potter.”

The Guardian: “There’s lots of blushing, stammering and smooching. Will Harry lock lips with Ginny? Is Ron smart enough to see that Hermione ... well, it’s not Skins. Hands are kept above the waist at all times. Putatively winsome all this may be, but what it actually does is throw the series’ biggest weakness into sharp relief: film-making can (and does) control pretty much everything – except how the cute juvenile leads grow up. Still, director David Yates knows how to play all the cards. Although a touch ungainly, his film is solidly constructed, with lots of fine effects. If, as Potter approaches his final confrontation with Voldemort, the wizardly battles begin to resemble Lord of the Rings, it’s hardly a handicap; this is tried and tested cinematic language, and does all it needs.”