Review: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has finally hit theaters after a long time coming. And it doesn’t bring us surprising information. Just like always, the famous headmaster’s all about hiding information, and delegating.
Jude Law is back as beloved the Albus (Wulfric Brian Percival) Dumbledore in the third installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
The movie focuses on Dumbledore putting together a team of unlikely heroes to defeat the world’s most powerful wizard of the last century, Gellert Grindelwald.
Among them, we have the now-famous Hufflepuff, magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), and five others. His brother, Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner), Ilvermorny professor Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams), Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam), Newt’s “indispensable” assistant, Bunty Broadacre (Victoria Yeates), and our favorite Muggle, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler).
On the other side, we have Grindelwald fighting with Queenie Goldstein’s (Alison Sudol) Legilimens help, as well as Credence (Ezra Miller).
In a much structured movie than the disappointing second installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the movie manages to bring us back to the excitement of the magical world, now even more international.
While the entire Harry Potter franchise was set in the UK, Fantastic Beasts is different. We saw the first movie set entirely in the U.S., and the second included a lot of scenes from Paris, France.
Now, the third one takes us to a new land: Germany, and Bhutan, where we get to experience their magical communities.
And we get to see Dumbledore do what he does best: conceal vital information, and delegate. Just like always, he gathers a team, Dumbledore’s Army if you will, and sends said unprepared team to deal with very serious jobs with little information.
There’s a few returning beloved creatures, too, including Pickett, Newt’s bowtruckle, his Niffler, the Diricawls, and the Phoenix.
But we’re also introduced to a beautiful, adorable, new creature: Qilin (sometimes Qirin). The animal, also known as the Asian unicorn, is a pure creature that can see into the soul of anyone it encounters. And it’s also the key animal of the third installment.
We get to see a Blast-Ended Skrewt, which Hagrid made the third years grow in the books, yet never revealed in the movies.
And yes, let’s talk about Johnny. Part of the Harry Potter fandom vowed to boycott the movie after Johnny Depp had to leave the series. He was replaced with Mads Mikkelsen. But, alas, what a good choice.
Mads Mikkelsen is absolutely fantastic as Gellert Grindelwald. His character feels more real, present, confident, more menacing, mysterious, and a bigger threat. Meanwhile, Johnny, with all his huge resume, didn’t seem to grasp Grindelwald’s purpose without making him just another one of his peculiar roles.
The movie also explores Dumbledore’s family more than it does in the original movie. It brings more information on his sister, Ariana, and brother, Aberforth.
The movie had a great score by James Newton Howard, a screenplay from J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, and it was directed by David Yates, just like the previous ones.
Did I like it? Yes, far more than the previous. Is it perfect? No. But it’s a return to magic for all Potterheads, and I can’t wait to see where else the story goes.
Rating: 8/10
Disclaimer: My review for the Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore might be biased, because I’m a huge HP fan.
