REVIEW: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore Attempts To Obliviate The Mistakes Of The Past
Written by J.K. Rowling and directed once again by David Yates, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore is a refreshing new start to the Fantastic Beasts series. A much needed fresh start after the bumbling mess that was the second movie in the series, The Crimes of Grindelwald. The best way to explain this film is simply, if The Crimes of Grindelwald tried to tear apart seven books of Harry Potter cannon in one movie, The Secrets Of Dumbledore did its best to patch those mistakes back up. Many questions left unanswered or revelations that left fans in a questionable tizzy are quickly rectified by the end of the film. The film washes away the imperfections from its predecessor in order to get the story back on track and back in the good graces of fans.
However, even with a fresh restart, the story still felt incomplete and almost less magical. Characters, magical items, and plot lines are introduced and then never delved into. For example, Queenie’s (Alison Sudol) inner struggle with betraying her love, Jacob (Dan Fogler), or William Nadylam’s Yusuf Kama entire storyline had their surfaces barely scratched. Do not even get me started on Katherine Waterston’s Tina, who is basically placed on the backburner for no good reason at all. For a character that was vital in the first two films, her mysterious nonappearance throughout the film is completely ridiculous. It is almost as though Rowling didn’t have enough time to focus on these characters or was unaware of where their stories should go after they were first introduced in the first two films, which is absurd because coming a little under two and a half hours long should have been more than enough time to cover all these things.
Even with all of its faults, there are a few positives. The film includes quite a few nice callbacks to the original Harry Potter series that new and old fans will enjoy. The film finally makes its return to Hogwarts, and though fairly short, it will definitely be a crowd favorite. The film also does a nice job of including some little references only eagle eyed fans will notice and it does incorporate some of John Williams’ beautiful pieces, like “Hedwig’s Theme”, that will bring a smile to their faces.
Another crowd pleaser will be Mads Mikkelsen’s performance as Gellert Grindelwald. Mikkelsen takes over the role from Johnny Depp and brings an eerie calm to the character that leaves the viewer feeling unbalanced. His performance justifies how and why so many witches & wizards were so ready to follow him to the end, and yet also showcases why so many people were against him and everything he stood for. It’s fascinating to watch, especially in scenes with Jude Law’s Albus Dumbledore.
The Secrets Of Dumbledore is basically what one would consider a filler episode. It was made to correct prior mistakes while also getting viewers just enough information to move them along to the next chapter in the story. Its lackluster and leaves little excitement for fans to look forward to. I will leave it to you to decide whether or not to see this one in theaters, but do know, that at this point in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, you can only continue up from here.
Grade: B-