[Review] Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore

 

Title - Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore
Production - Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films
Starring - Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, Ezra Miller, William Nadylam, Callum Turner, Alison Sudol, Richard Coyle, Katherine Waterston
Writer - J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves
Director - David Yates
Release - 15 April 2022

Out of all the three Fantastic Beasts movies, this one had the most potential to be great - because the first two felt like the setup and this one was wrapping up certain story arc. 

However, once again, a lot of plot points made me asked, why. Either this proved that J.K. Rowling isn't a good screenplay writer, or there were a lot of things lost in translation from J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves' script to David Yates' vision. And I went with a Potterhead who informed me that even the rules setup in the Harry Potter movies (future) were ignored in this new series (past).

I thought the acting once again was top notched. Mads Mikkelsen was a great addition (and he's probably the only actor out of all who have played this character before him, to be a plausible candidate for Jude Law's Dumbledore to say "I love you" to at the diner booth. That scene was a great introduction to their relationship.

Not their last scene together, though. I thought that was a little messy with the "necklace", and how the aim of the story was to stop Grindelwald but he was just allowed to walk away. 

And this is an example of how the script choices would just annoy me with no answer given. 

This movie wrapped up Ezra Miller's character arc. And Miller really delivered in his acting, which in the height of all his misdoing, it kind of put him back in the positive light a little bit. 

The side characters suffered. We had no idea why Alison Sudol's character had a change of heart. There was no reason for William Nadylam's character to switch sides and lose his memory. Jessica Williams was an interesting addition, but one can't help but wonder if her character was substituting for Katherine Waterston's.