'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' Review: The Magic is Meh in this Third Potter Prequel
PG-13: Some fantasy action/violence
Runtime: 2 Hrs and 22 Minutes
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: David Yates
Writers: J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston, Mads Mikkelsen
Release Date: April 15, 2022
In Theaters Only
Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches, and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald's growing legion of followers. But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines?
Director David Yates needs to be freed from the shackles of the Wizarding World. Once again, his direction keeps this entry—if not this entire franchise—afloat. His singular vision has made J.K. Rowling’s world come alive for over a decade now and here you see him do his damnedest to keep her––and, to a major extent, Warner Bros.’––franchise somewhat enticing. The magic is far from gone due to Rowling self-destructing her entire legacy by being unapologetically transphobic on main, but Yates still manages to pique your interest by pouring his soul into these movies. Whenever this entry decides to abide by its Fantastic Beasts title, emphasizing the creatures that inhabit the world and creating fantastical set pieces out of them, that’s where the fun lies. Several set pieces were as whimsical and entertaining as the first film. While they were few and far between, Yates delivers them in a spellbinding manner that audibly made me go, “Whoa,” once or twice… something the predecessor failed to do.
David Yates has been playing in Rowling’s sandbox for so long trying to make something out of a franchise that, let’s be honest, feels as if it’s on its last leg right now. Yates could potentially helm something like a Pokémon movie given how he can make CG fantasy creatures feel well-integrated into a realistic yet fantastical world of its own. Hey WB, y’all got the film rights. Let David Yates helm a Pokémon movie, you cowards!
After 15 years of J.K. Rowling providing lip service, we finally get to see Albus Dumbledore be gay on main. As the film opens, you have Dumbledore and Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) are in a diner discussing their relationship, and Dumbledore gets to express his feelings by saying, “I was in love with you,” to him. Despite it being far too late to explore this never-before-seen but constantly told characterization of Albus, it’s Jude Law’s performance that makes it whole. It’s as if he watched a few period piece dramas to prepare for the role because he got that look of yearning, regret, and pain down pat. You sympathize with Dumbledore as he is distraught about having to take down the man he once loved. Even though said man is a genocidal maniac, his vulnerability is often publicly displayed and his emotions become a bigger burden than the blood pact curse he shares with Grindelwald that prevents them from never physically attacking each other. His portrayal of Dumbledore is of his design and Jude Law is mesmerizing whenever he’s onscreen.
Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) is still innocent. Fogler is still the best character out of this entire franchise and every time he was onscreen, he made me smile. Fogler is just so damn lovable and charming, I was genuinely rooting for him to move on with his life and start anew with literally anybody else. The nonsensical manner in which his girlfriend Queenie (Alison Sudol) left him in the last film still has me furious.
Whereas The Crimes of Grindelwald was unbearably bloated and overstuffed with unnecessary drama to pad out the run time, The Secrets of Dumbledore is refreshingly streamlined as a narrative. It drops all the dull moments of useless exposition, uninteresting love triangles, and pathetic excuses for fan service and thankfully has a central focus. This entry is a tale as old as time: other characters doing Dumbledore’s bidding that he cannot interfere with because… sure, why not? Zoologist Newt Scamander, Muggle Jacob Kowalski, and a bunch of wizards who are also teachers must stop his ex-lover Grindelwald before he rigs an election and causes a genocidal war against Muggle-kind. The movie applies a spy thriller format to this wizard world and, for the most part, tackles the nature and structure of it all quite decently. From a story approach, I appreciate the effort of giving this entry a fresh identity instead of attempting to be a big bloated blockbuster epic ala Star Wars with wizards. It’s new and feels better equipped for this kind of franchise even though, much like the new Star Wars trilogy, you know there ain’t no playbook to conclude this “overarching narrative.”
The Secrets of Dumbledore is a marginal improvement over the blunder that was Crimes of Grindelwald, but it can’t help but shake the lingering stench of the predecessor. This entry hastily attempts to course-correct the wrongdoings of the last film and some of its open threads don’t get proper development, leaving most of the characters we were introduced to in the first film hanging.
Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander does not work as a leading character at this point. He’s likable and noble enough to delight young viewers but it’s mostly his occupation that’s enticing. He’s not as interesting as any of the supporting ensemble. Now that we’re at our third entry, so many of these characters, outside of my dear baker boy Jacob, lack the characterization necessary to maintain your attention.
This sadly also applies to Grindelwald, now portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, who I think is one of the best actors of our time. He knows how to captivate you with his performances. While he does bring a cold and menacing demeanor in this third iteration of Grindelwald, there’s hardly much to him outside of that. If you give Mads Mikkelsen something to work with, he will run the gamut. But because he’s given nothing of heft, especially in an entry that has a larger focus on his relationship with his ex-lover, he ends up not delivering anything noteworthy.
We’re three movies deep and I feel as if I only know one or two characters from the excessively large cast. Newt’s brother Theseus (Callum Turner) is one-note, the brooding Credence (Ezra Miller) is still as moody as ever, Queenie Goldstein is not given much to do, and Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson) is MIA. But hey, here’s a bunch of new characters whose names you probably won’t remember. One of the new additions is Jessica Williams as Lally, a witch who becomes part of this wizard spy team. Williams brought a welcoming and lively attitude with the most ‘30s-era gumshoe voice that was delightful to hear, and for a moment I got mad. I got mad that this is Lally’s first appearance and her character ran circles around most of the veterans in this.
While I appreciate this film taking a new approach to the franchise, Secrets of Dumbledore severely lacks a consistent identity. Thankfully, it’s tonally lighter than the predecessor, but it’s inconsistent overall. You have sequences of family-friendly action and set pieces but then it hits you with the most disturbing nightmare fuel. If not, it’ll go into dark and political themes that I know will bore the kids. It once again begs the same question I asked during the predecessor: “Who was this made for?”
Harry Potter fans have jumped ship due to Rowling’s transphobic views, the predecessor left a bad taste in just about everybody’s mouth, and now this entry wastes so much of its runtime trying to course-correct its missteps while trying to tell a new story that is still muddled. Once you get to the titular aspect of the film, the secrets of Dumbledore, all the intrigue behind this character that fans grew up with gets diluted with a rushed, uninteresting further of the lore that results in the entire family not being shit. The secret is really that both Albus and his brother are foolish ass men.
The title alone, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, plays as if it is two separate titles constantly at war with itself, and because of it, the film ends up being a mid-tier sequel both tonally and structurally. Congrats, writers J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves. Y’all didn’t make this as much of a D-movie as The Crimes of Grindelwald, but Secrets of Dumbledore is a C+ at best, which is progress but simply not anything to write home about.
God, why do we have to endure two more of these movies? Whatever.
