25th Apr2022

‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Review

by Alex Ginnelly

Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, Katherine Waterston, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Ezra Miller | Written by Steve Kloves | Directed by David Yates

After another instalment in the franchise, I still find myself asking what it’s all for, and more importantly, who are these films for? The Harry Potter franchise is one of the most beloved film and book series we’ve ever had, and it’s so loved because of the wonderful characters we care so much about. And as I was sat watching the new Fantastic Beasts film, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, I found myself wondering who exactly I’m meant to care for and why exactly I should care at all.

We were first introduced to Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in 2016 in the first instalment of these Potter prequels. Now six years later I still question what ark this character has and if he’s still even the hero of our story. Redmayne has always played Scamander well and I’ve always enjoyed his performance. They’ve always felt to me like the answer to what would happen if Charles Dickens wrote Doctor Who, and I think that has created a wonderfully awkward charm to his character. Unfortunately, that is where my interest in this character ends. Over the course of the three films the writers have never given Newt Scamander any room to grow, there have been no tough decisions for him to make and no charter journey for the audience to get invested in. We fall in love with characters because of our empathy towards them and this comes from their motivations, their wants and needs, and most importantly their choices. It’s then how those choices shape and change our characters and the world they inhabit. With the characters in this franchise I never felt they had any hard choices to make, they never really felt like they were having any impact on me and never made me feel any empathy towards them. No character grows or changes from where we meet them to where the story ends. In fact, the end to this film felt as if it took us right back to the end of the last film and the world feels like it’s in the same place, as are the characters.

There are some fun moments for these characters and I feel despite the poor writing they have all been portrayed well by the actors that play them. Dan Fogler has always been a stand out as the New York muggle who joins the team, and I particularly enjoyed the performance of Jessica Williams, who is a new addition to the series. Jude Law returns as Dumbledore and brings with him a questionable accent that ranges from Jude Law’s own, to Scottish, to somewhere in the west country. His accent continued to take me out of the scene and question what he was trying to go for.

The film is directed well by David Yates and New York looks particularly magical in many shots but the rest of the film does lack the magic and wonder you’d expect from a film set in the world of Harry Potter. The one other moment of magic is a return to Hogwarts that Potter fans will no doubt love, however I can’t help but feel for those who have no connection to Harry Potter. There is no sense in this film or in this franchise in trying to bring in new audience members. I remember each Harry Potter film delivering a new piece of magic and wonder with each instalment but I never felt that here. I wonder where the magic is for the new generation coming to see these films for the first time, the film offers nothing for them.

I think the problem with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore stems from the writing. While the performances are good and so too is the directing, the film’s pace and plot suffer. For a film about witches and wizards it’s incredibly boring and the plot fumbles from place to place with no fluidity, and again no arcs. It’s a real shame as this franchise on paper sounded like it would be a hit, and the longer we continue the more I question the title of “Fantastic Beasts”. It’s a franchise that is starting to forget that Newt Scamander is the lead and is slowly becoming the Dumbledore prequel series, something we didn’t need and now no longer want.

It will be interesting to see if the series gets another instalment after mixed reviews and a poor box office return. After this dull instalment that offers nothing new or original, it now seems impossible to be excited for the future of these characters and their story.

** 2/5

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is in cinemas now.

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