Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, movie audiences would have to wait four years for this sequel to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. While I am not a massive fan of the “Wizarding World” franchise, I feel that I actually benefitted greatly from this longer-than-expected break for this next installment. With its flaws and problems, The Crimes of Grindelwald left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, after I first watched it. I didn’t exactly hate it, but was mostly disappointed and frustrated with the film. And even though I knew that my initial reaction wasn’t very favorable, I still rewatched it before going into the new movie.
So much time had passed, that I honestly did not remember the exact details of these movies. That never really was a problem with the Harry Potter portion of the franchise. Each of those movies were memorable enough that I didn’t necessarily need a rewatch, but would often do so because I like most of those movies. However, this prequel series had pretty much escaped my mind and thusly, need some refreshment.
Picking up where the flawed and often failing Crimes of Grindelwald leaves off, The Secrets of Dumbledore continues the battles between the Grindelwald (now portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen) and followers versus Dumbledore (Jude Law), Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and all those who are willing to oppose the dark wizard. Much gets revealed about the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald and how they would eventually have a falling out. While it seems that Grindelwald always has the upper hand in this battle of wills and magic, Dumbledore’s earnest heart and the earnest hearts of his associates refuse to give up their cause and fight for what is right and just.
Much like the Star Wars and X-Men stories, the Fantastic Beasts trilogy is a story of good versus evil. However, what makes Fantastic Beasts more akin with the X-Men stories is that the “bad guys” have their reasons for being who they are. Fear and prejudice are the factors that have driven them to become the villains they are. Dumbledore is essentially the Charles Xavier of the wizards, while Grindelwald is the Magneto of the dark wizards. I was hoping that the writers would put more imagination into creating something other than a retread.
Still, I nevertheless found myself entertained with this latest installment. It is definitely an improvement from the previous movie, but still has some flaws of its own. The movie runs on longer than is necessary, and relies too much on what was already established in the Harry Potter stories. This prequel trilogy often fails to create some of its own magic and follows the easy path of callbacks to the magic in the Potter movies.
Regardless of the problems, the entire cast performs admirably with Eddie Redmayne reprises his lovable role as the awkward, but good-hearted magizoologist Newt Scamander. Jude Law shines wonderfully as the charismatic and fatherly Dumbledore. As the troubled and haunted Creedence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore, Ezra Miller is great. New to the Fantastic Beasts trilogy is Mads Mikkelson who takes over the role of Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard, who wants to eliminate the world of all “Muggles” so that the wizards can rise and control everything.
Mikkelsen is so much better in this role than Johnny Depp, who often was distracting with his bizarre, over-the-top acting choices. Mikkelsen brings to the character a more realistic feel, and one that is so charismatic that one can easily see why people want to follow him and support his cause. The film also features some welcome reprisals by Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, and Calllum Turner.
I don’t know exactly what the future holds for this prequel franchise. Should they decide to further bridge the gap between this era and the era of Harry Potter, I would hope that the writers could come up with a more inventive story that stands well on its own. I feel that the dedicated fans of the Wizarding World will like and enjoy this movie well enough. Even casual folks (like me) will find some pleasure in the good things this movie has to offer. It still has its fun and exciting moments, but isn’t really anything we haven’t already experienced in a science fiction or fantasy story. I am giving the movie a generous 4 star (out of 5) rating, because I like it overall, but I feel that if this franchise is to have a better future, it will need better writers.