Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Should you go to the movies in order to escape the current political climate, stay far away from Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.  It would seem that not even J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World can escape talk of rigged elections, conspiracies, and dirty political deeds.  Sure, we get a couple scenes set at Hogwarts, and snippets of John Williams' Harry Potter theme on the soundtrack, but these callbacks can't save what is largely a dry experience.

After 2018's entry, The Crimes of Grindelwald, failed to make the intended mark with fans, one would think that a course correction would be in order.  However, while there is a bit more fun here than in the previous movie, this is still an overly talky piece that will appeal mainly to the most hardcore followers of Rowling's work.  Like before, she seems to have trouble adapting to writing an original screenplay, as she fills the script with so many ideas and scenes of characters talking about things instead of showing us them.  In a book, where our minds create the images, this is fine, but in the visual medium of film, it's better to show not tell.  And even though Steve Kloves (who adapted all but one of the original Potter films) is on board with co-writing duties this time, his input must have been minimal, as this film once again lacks the spark and life that the earlier series contained.

The plot is set around a Fantastic Beast known as a Qilin, which can see into the souls of people, and is used by the Wizarding World to decide who is best to lead the Ministry of Magic.  The Qilin becomes the target of an assassination attempt by returning villain, Gellert Grindelwald, who is played this time by Mads Mikkelsen, stepping in for Johnny Depp.  And while Mikkelsen is fine in the role, he does not recreate Depp's look from the previous film, so it's a bit jarring, and they should have done a bit more effort to make him resemble his predecessor.  Grindelwald has been acquitted of all his past crimes by the International Confederation of Wizards, and so he is allowed to run for office within the Ministry.  With his potential political power, Gellert would have the ability to rally his followers to destroy all non-magical Muggles, and conquer both the Magical and Normal World, and he wants to rig things so that he is certain to win.

In order to prevent this, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) recruits a small band of heroes, which include returning protagonist Newt (Eddie Redmayne), Newt's brother Theseus (Callum Turner), a witch named Lally (Jessica Williams), and Newt's Muggle friend, Jacob (Dan Fogler).  As the title suggests, there are a lot of plot revelations regarding Dumbledore's family history, and a lot of talk of politics and political assassination attempts performed by the followers of Gellert.  What the movie shows a surprising lack of are moments of wonder.  We do get more than last time, and the Fantastic Beasts themselves play a larger role than they did in the overall plot as well.  But it can't help but feel a bit disappointing.  The movie throws us a bone now and then with a well done special effects sequence, or a fleeting glimpse of a Quidditch match, but it's a bit of a tease.

Much like before, The Secrets of Dumbledore spins a complex tale with dozens of subplots and character relationships moving.  It starts to resemble those trained performers who would spin plates on top of sticks, trying to not have them fall.  As the movie balances all of the elements of its convoluted plot and large cast of characters, it starts to feel a bit dense to anyone who is not a walking encyclopedia of the author's imaginary world.  I'm all for our blockbuster movies to have a lot on their mind.  In fact, I encourage it.  But these have to be offset by genuine moments of fun, and these moments are precious few.  The movie tries to create a balance between the magical and the complex, and it simply doesn't work as intended.  The political plot is dry and forced, the characters are not fun enough for us to get behind, and the special effects are not enough to make this an overlong chore to sit through at times.

There is obviously an audience who goes to these movies, but I wonder if it's still large enough to carry a franchise such as this.  While I enjoyed the first Fantastic Beasts film, I did note in my review that it seemed like an attempt to carry on a franchise that had its moment.  The two sequels have rammed the point home that while there are signs of life now and then, we did not need this particular dive into Rowling's world.

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