Fantastic Beasts – The Secrets of Dumbledore movie review

The third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts series is the best movie to date but left many questions unanswered

The Fantastic Beasts spinoff series had been a disappointment for Harry Potter fans with lukewarm reviews for the first film Fantastic Beasts Where to Find Them, but that was expected with a whole new cast including Jude Law as Dumbledore.

Think fast, fun, and furiously shot whilst recapturing the magic of Harry Potter, and a significant improvement on the previous instalment which breathes new life into the tiresome franchise.

Then came 2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald took an impressive 654.9 million USD at the box office but did very little to course correct all the small mistakes the first one set up, but finally it all makes sense in the new movie (Which I very much enjoyed), and there could easily be another 2 more movies based on the ending of the latest film in the series.

Having been invited to the Fantastic Beasts – The Secrets of Dumbledore media screening last night, I was excited to see what the movie had to offer, and was pleasantly suprised with how far the cast, script and screenplay had come since the first two films.

The Secrets of Dumbledore is “An exciting and enjoyable Wizarding World adventure

There is amazing CGI and numerous funny moments throughout the two hours and twenty three minutes and I cannot stop thinking about ‘Eddie doing the crab’, you have to watch it to believe how funny he is in these scenes! Though far too much is packed into the movie and you will scenes if you blink.

Mover over Mr Depp as the oustanding performace by Mads Mikkelsen blew me away. Eddie Redmayne and Katherine Waterston throughout were also imprressive though I must say Dan Fogler was phenomenal and somewhat under-rated!

Michael Mikkelsen Is A Better Grindelwald Than Johnny Depp “Mark Boardman”

Mikkelsen nailed the menacing, dangerous essence that makes Grindelwald a wizard to fear though several parts he had to do almost had me it tears (No spoilers but The Qilin (A rare animal who can detect a person’s goodness qualities) is an important part in the ending and seen throughout); though if you have not seen the first two movies – there it no need as you can already see he has a reputation for playing villainous and ambiguous characters and pick up the storyline though Eddie’s Newt Scamander takes a little getting used too as an old but good-hearted complicated Doctor Who styled charatcer.

Amid a slew of controversies, including Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp being recast, J.K Rowling‘s continuous anti-transgender agenda, dealing with COVID-19 during production, and more, it seemed all hope was lost for the third film, The Secrets of Dumbledore but that is not the case.

There plot twists and a time jump from the first movies..he first two films take place between 1926 and 1927, but The Secrets of Dumbledore is supposedly set several years later in the 1930s, possibly even as late as 1939. This is likely in part due to the franchise’s expected end with Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s legendary duel in 1945, so they will have to jump steadily ahead with each movie.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Official Trailer

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, based on J.K. Rowling’s 2001 guidebook of the same name, was released in 2016, and it takes place many years before Harry Potter was born. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was directed by David Yates and introduced audiences to magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who is plotting a huge war against Muggles. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore followed the popularity of the first film, with the latter featuring significant changes to the primary characters.

How does the tragic relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald end? Fairly I would say and without a death. Is Jacob Kowalski more than just a baker? Yes and a hero more than he knows!

This film does need to be watched at the cinema for the whole perspective, and I highly recommend this for all people, including muggles like myself.

The Secrets of Dumbledore cast are Mads Mikkelsen · Ezra Miller · Katherine Waterston · Jude Law · Eddie Redmayne · Alison Sudol · Dan Fogler · Callum Turner

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore one of the best entries in the Harry Potter franchise is in UK cinemas Frida and US theaters on April 15.

Author Profile

Mark Boardman
Mark Boardman
Mark Boardman is an established showbiz journalist and freelance copywriter whose work has been published in Business Insider, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, MTV, Buzzfeed, and The New York Post, amongst other media. Often spotted on the red carpet at celebrity events and film screenings, Mark is a regular guest on BBC Radio London and in demand for his opinions on media outlets such as Newsweek, Daily Express, and OK! Magazine, as well as Heart radio, Capital FM, LBC, and Radio 2. His TV credits include ITV News, This Morning, BBC News, The One Show, Sky News, GB News, and Channel T4. Mark is a keen traveller having visited 40+ countries, and a devout sports fan who also attends as many gigs as he can across the capital when not rubbing shoulders with the stars. Email Mark@MarkMeets.com

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