Four years after 2018’s The Crimes Of Grindelwald, the Fantastic Beasts franchise is back on the big screen with a new offering, The Secrets Of Dumbledore.
The film, which sees the return of Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law and the addition of Mads Mikkelsen as he replaces Johnny Depp, has been met with mixed reviews from critics.
The Guardian praised the film as “another very amiable and lovely-looking fantasy adventure with some great production design and visual effects, especially in the New York scenes”.
The review added: “But it’s not about “secrets” as much as new IP-franchise narrative components shuffled into the ongoing content and shuffled out again.
“Yet there is certainly something intriguing about the questions arising from the saga’s approach to the existing Potter timeline.”
The Telegraph was less glowing, saying: “So many sequences here feel like free-floating trailer fodder: surplus to plot requirements, but too expensive to cut.
“Why do Redmayne and (Callum) Turner spend around 15 minutes dancing with scorpions in a cave? And what’s the purpose of Law’s duel with Ezra Miller’s antagonist Credence Barebone, who once looked like the tortured lynchpin of the franchise but has now been demoted to a glum hanger-on?
“Meanwhile, doses of Potter nostalgia are methodically positioned along the route like bolts on a climbing wall, to give the otherwise bamboozled viewer something to cling to. Look, it’s Hogwarts! Here’s some Quidditch!
“And who remembers that spell book with teeth?
“That these details do provide jolts of delight amid the confusion is testament to the imperishable brilliance of Rowling’s original creation.
“But for these particular beasts, the glue factory beckons.”
Trade publication The Hollywood Reporter was less than positive, describing it as “a slog more than an event,” adding: “The long-awaited third instalment of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World sub-franchise is less clogged with distracting detail than its immediate predecessor, but even a more refined plot can’t save the two-hour-plus film from feeling like an endurance test.”
However, Variety said the film’s complexities will reward devoted fans.
The review said: “Three movies into Rowling’s convoluted big-screen prequel saga, and the series once again feels like work, only this time, the resulting pleasures will strike audiences quite differently, depending on your level of dedication to the franchise.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore is rooted deep in the mythology of Rowling’s Wizarding World, seldom slowing down long enough to explain the magic spells or strategies used by its characters.
“That’ll no doubt vex casual viewers, keeping them at wand’s length from the interpersonal relationships that make this grand fight for the planet worth watching.
“But devotees will likely adore the various revelations in store, including a deeper commitment to the tragic love story between beloved Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and the wizard determined to settle a score with Muggle-kind.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore is released in UK cinemas on April 8.