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Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Tyler Harlow

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, Mads Mikkelsen, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Poppy Corby-Tuech


Director: David Yates


Grindlewald (Mikkelsen) is still on the loose and is plotting to rig an election and make himself the leader of the magical world. Once he is in office, he can wage a war on the Muggle world. Dumbledore (Law) knows Gridlewald, his former lover, has to be stopped but can't make a move himself due to a blood pact he and Grindlewald made. Now he must enlist Newt (Redmayne), his brother Theseus (Turner), Jacob (Fogler), and American magic teacher Lally (Williams) to help him with his cause. As they travel all over the world to set up their plan, they must contend with Creedance (Miller), Queenie (Sudol), and all of Grindlewald's followers who are set on going to war with the non-magical world.


The Crimes of Grindlewald, which came out in 2018, angered me to no end. Not only did it betray some of the characters but it ended on a very frustrating cliffhanger that hadn't been set up in previous Harry Potter lore. That movie wasn't as successful as any of the previous Harry Potter films and due to the off-camera deeds of Johnny Depp, a third film was in doubt.


Johnny Depp was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen and the third film moved on. Steve Kloves, who wrote all but one of the Harry Potter films, was brought in to guide J.K. Rowling with this screenplay. The result is much better but still, the Fantastic Beasts franchise lacks the source material that the Harry Potter films had and it shows, as it feels like no one knows what the ultimate endgame is. Newt almost feels like an afterthought in a franchise that was built around his character and I guess this is what happens when you try to adapt a book that is only mentioned in passing once, into a 5 film franchise. I don't see how they can wring two more films out of this universe.


Admirably, they try to backtrack on some of the things that were set up in the previous film in a good way. Creedance's connection to Dumbledore is explained in a much more palpable way and Queenie begins to question her choice to join Grindlewald, which felt forced in the last film. They also make the baffling decision to sideline Tina, who was played by Katherine Waterson in the first two films. She only shows up in the final 5 minutes or so of the film. I don't understand the choice and having her with the team would have been a benefit. There also aren't that many magical creatures in the film and when they do show up, they are killed off in one of the many darker scenes in a franchise that has positioned itself as made for younger audiences. When one such instance opens your movie, it's an odd tone to start on.


All the actors bring what they can to the movie. As I said, Newt feels like a secondary character in this movie but he also gets one of the standout scenes when he has to break Theseus out of jail. It brings back some of the weirdness and magical creatures that were present in the first film that helped to make it unique. Dan Fogler ends up once again being the best part of the film and the only character the franchise seems interested in growing. The best addition is Jessica Williams, who is fun and has good chemistry with Fogler.


While a marked improvement over the second film, this third entry in the franchise can't help but get in its own way and continue the erratic storytelling choices.


Grade: C-

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