The parents who anxiously brought their young kids to see the first films in the “Harry Potter” franchise based on J.K. Rowling’s popular literary chronicles of young wizardry will realize something within “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’s” first few frames: This truly is grown folks’ filmmaking.

This sixth chapter in the saga doesn’t necessarily have the best action, but it does have the best acting, with an established tone that should engross book fans and at least hold the interest of followers of the film series.

After “The Half-Blood Prince” opens with a visually stunning and thrilling attack from Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters on Muggle London, it’s obvious that no world is immune to his treacherous reach. Back at Hogwarts, which is now subject to heightened security, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), along with best friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), struggles with the usual teenage hang-ups brought on by ever-increasing hormones. Hermione’s initial interest in Ron has grown to infatuation but is crushed by finding he literally can’t escape the advances of Lavender Brown (Jessica Cave). Meanwhile, Harry finds himself pining for Ron’s sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright), but his main task comes when Professor Dumbledore (an especially impressive Michael Gambon) must once again ask too much of him.

The two travel to a disheveled home to convince former Hogwarts potion professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) to return to teach. In order to figure out how to destroy Lord Voldemort, Harry must extract one of Slughorn’s memories from when he taught Voldemort when he was just an over-achieving student named Tom Riddle.

The film’s tone and sense of foreboding is justified when Draco Malfoy (Tom Felfon) is called upon to commit a heinous act for the Dark Lord that could change Hogwarts forever.

Considering how young the star players were when the “Harry Potter” series started, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they display serious acting chops in the sixth installment. Radcliffe keeps Potter human, comically and dramatically grappling with the benefits and weight of being appointed "The Chosen One” who will have to destroy Voldemort. Watson continues to mature in a multi-dimensional portrayal of strength and vulnerability that Hermione initially showed in previous films, and Grint steals plenty of scenes as Ron Weasley, having developed a range of emotions to add to his comic chops. Meanwhile, Felton’s Draco Malfoy is even more venomous, with a gangly physique and evil expressions that don’t require many words to show his intentions.

The “adult” actors, whether it’s Alan Rickman as the questionable Severus Snape, Gambon as Dumbledore or Broadbent’s bumbling portrayal as Slughorn, all come up aces. Thanks to all involved, and especially the skilled direction by “Order of the Phoenix” director David Yates, “The Half-Blood Prince” has a dramatic weight and power unmatched from the previous films with a stark, ominous palette that could be compared to Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow.”

At a length of more than 150 minutes (which is now an average “Harry Potter” time), the lack of action and emphasis on doom and gloom brings the film to crawls of dialogue at times. While “The Half-Blood Prince” is one of the best in the series and prepares viewers for the “The Deathly Hallows” two-part film conclusion, it doesn’t quite measure up to “The Goblet of Fire,” which was the series’ best mix of intense drama, thrilling visuals and summer-blockbuster action. Consider it growing pains.