Film Review: Law-Abiding ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

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CHICAGO – The elements of the Fantastic Beasts franchise that work at all are the ones most closely connected to the larger world of Harry Potter that enchanted the hearts and minds of millions in the first place. In “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” it’s ostensible main character Newt Scamander demoted to supporting character while Dumbledore is now front and center.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

After dropping in for only a handful of scenes in the first two films, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) is all over this movie and is the driving narrative force of this installment. That’s not a bad thing since the film pivots towards the most interesting element, and the only reason anyone gives two licks about anything that happens here … and Law gets the character just right.

Dumbledore needs Newt (a shuffling and embarrassed looking Eddie Redmayne) and his band of accomplices because the bond between him and Grindlewald (Mads Mickelson) won’t allow him to move against him himself. The series brings back Callum Turner as Newt’s brother in the Ministry of Magic and Jessica Williams as professor Eulalie Hicks, but unfortunately also brings back Dan Fogler as the befuddled Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski.

Continue reading for Spike Walter’s full review of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Continue reading for Spike Walter’s full review of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”