AndrewBook Review
Edmore Zvinonzwa
BEFORE we get into the nitty-gritties of the hot mess that is “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”, I have a few things that I need to get off my chest. First, “Fantastic Beast” movies are a franchise no one really asked for or, quite frankly, needed.
In fact, for all the merits of the first film and Eddie Redmayne’s consistent performances in the three movies released so far, Warner Brothers have somehow found new inventive ways to botch the Harry Potter-inspired film franchise at every turn.
Three movies in, I still cannot make heads or tails of the franchise or its endgame.
Is it a Harry Potter prelude, in the truest sense of the word, or is it a completely different story that happens to take place in the same universe as the famed wizard?
So far, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) is the only character that connects the two film franchises and the character has been nothing but a background player.
While some might call this nit picking, what is not is how Warner Brothers treated Johnny Depp. Originally slated to play the role of Gellert Grindelwald, Depp was fired, sorry, forced to resign from the movie when his infamous defamatory case against his ex-wife Amber Heard first reared its ugly head.
Depp professed his innocence and even received support from JK Rowling, the creator and writer of the books from which the movies are based on. However, it was to no avail.
Warner Brothers went ahead and asked Depp to resign and even kept Heard on their other project “Aquaman”.
The fact that Depp has since won the case and Heard exposed to be a liar, is not a good look for the company. But that is neither here nor there.
Depp’s huge shadow on the project and his replacement Madd Mikkelson’s performance is not the only thing wrong with this movie.
It is beginning to look like the reason for this particular movie, the third of five movies due for release in the franchise, serves only one purpose and that is to sever the blood troth between Dumbledore and his old friend-turned-frenemy Grindelwald.
The two are polar opposites and have a certain Professor X and Magneto relationship in that they are long-time friends who are separated by their ideologies. Grindelwald views witches and wizards as the superior race, while humans, or Muggles in this case, are beneath him and should be extinguished from existence.
Conversely, Dumbledore is all about peace and believes that both humans and wizards can co-exist. In order for Grindelwald’s plan to work, he sets about rigging an election so he can become the leader of the International Confederation of Wizards or Supreme Mugwump.
Loosely translated, it means he wanted to become president of the wizards so he can unite them all and wage war against the humans.
Unable to directly go up against Grindelwald, owing to some ill-advised blood pact from years earlier, Dumbledore decides to recruit Newt Scammander (Redmayne), Newt’s brother Theseus (Callum Turner), a teacher Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams), a Senegalese-French wizard Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam), a muggle named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogel), and Newt’s assistant Bunty Broadacre (Victoria Yeates) to thwart his (Grindelwald) plan for world domination.
Each character is given a different set of secret instructions that come together in the end, to help save the day.
It is all lazy writing, if you ask me, as the only thing this plan accomplishes is to set Dumbledore free from his blood and temporarily delay Grindelwald’s plans.
“The Fantastic Beasts” of which the production is based on and has been the hallmark of the franchise so far are too few and far in-between. In fact, the only creature that plays a significant role in the movie is a Qilin.
The magical creature can see into one’s soul and the future and serves two purposes in the movie. Owing to its ability to see a person’s soul, it is the final test one has to go through before they can become president of the wizards.
Grindelwald then sends his minions to capture and retrieve the last remaining Qilin with the plan to replace it with a fake one when running for president of the wizards.
This gives him a leg up in the battle against his old friend.
Also, one of the talking points of the previous instalment “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” was the reveal of Dumbledore’s long lost half-brother Aurelius (Ezra Miller).
Unfortunately, this particular sub-plot lacks follow-up as Aurelius is hardly featured in the movie, except in a couple of epic fight scenes with Dumbledore.
Miller’s stiff and lifeless performance does not really help matters either. Speaking of performances, it remains one of the few consistent areas in which the series shines. Redmayne is once again the real standout star of the film, while Mikkleson manages to make people forget, albeit momentarily, that he is only in the movie because Warner Brothers decided to throw Depp under the bus.
Mikkleson is the personification of a bad guy and, in retrospect, Warner Brothers found the right replacement for Depp.
The supporting acts also deserve some credit, in particular the duo of Fogler and Williams. The two (Fogler and Williams) have great chemistry.
Online Reporter