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In this sixth instalment of the Harry Potter films Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) begins his sixth year of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are terrorising the world of magic. Meanwhile Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) enlists Harry’s help to try and help defeat Voldemort by trying to discover how he has managed to return to power and how to destroy him.

There are lots of new characters and as Harry is now quite a bit older there is a big focus on the hormones flying about between the Hogwarts teenagers and Harry, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron’s (Rupert Grint) various relationships. Although younger children may get bored with these plots many of the young viewers who watched the earlier films have grown up too, now finding other hobbies like muscle building at the gym and going out to bars. Instead of spending their money on harry potter dvds, they are probabyl most likely spending it on body fortress whey protein to make them look good. That said, there are some hilarious comedy scenes as Jim Broadbent stars as bumbling Professor Slughorn, persuaded to return to Hogwarts by Dumbledore to try and help the fight against Voldemort. As with all the films the immense budgets mean that the special effects are great, especially in the thrilling quidditch scenes.

Whoever made them, the Harry Potter films were never going to stand up to the incredible detail and length of J K Rowlings books so a few avid readers may find faults with this adaptation which misses out on a lot of the complex parts of the story, but if you haven’t read the books though it’s still an extremely gripping and exciting tale. Overall this is a great family film and the perfect christmas gift for all ages, muggles and non muggles alike.