Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 left the wizarding world on such a high note. I look at that movie more fondly than ever because of the precipitous fall from grace The Fantastic Beasts movies have taken the wizarding world with one bad creative decision after another. The Secrets of Dumbledore isn’t an Earth shattering reinvigoration of the franchise, but it sucks out a lot of the bad juju plaguing the first 2 movies, so that’s something I guess.
Since the Crimes of Grindlewald, apparently jilted exes Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindlewald (now played by Mads Mikkelsen) have been assembling and organizing for the upcoming election of the Wizarding World Mugwump (leader, basically). While Grindlewald has been infiltrating Wizarding political leadership to achieve his goals, Dumbledore works more in the shadows, recruiting overlooked but good people like Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams) and muggle Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) to thwart Grindlewald’s political ambitions. Also under the radar, Dumbledore’s right hand man Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) helps bring into the world a Qilin, a magical creature than can see into one’s soul and predict the future. Grindlewald is eager to capture this creature for his own nefarious purposes, sending his acolyte Credence (Ezra Miller) to retrieve it.
I guess 2 wrongs kinda make something right? The Secrets of Dumbledore really spends a lot of its creativity eliminating the poisons that have plagued the franchise. The toxic personalities (Johnny Depp, Ezra Miller), are either gone or sidelined, replaced by lovable actors like Mads Mikkelsen and Jessica Williams, donning a great 1930s movie accent. Rowling’s script also nudges perspective a little further towards Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindlewald – characters beloved in Harry Potter lore and the real reason everyone is going to see these movies – and a little away from Newt, who is not particularly interesting or emotionally resonant unless he’s connecting with animals. And maybe most importantly, Rowling’s seeming disdain for Potter lore is gone, righting all the strange storytelling wrongs she took advantage of in the first two films that pissed off the die hards in my life.
But I still don’t know if Rowling has a good grasp on this prequel to Potter, specifically with what people are responding too. Maybe with Mads Mikkelsen in place the Dumbledore/Grindlewald relationship will start to take off, but as of now the driving force for these prequels is in a weird place, not selling the emotional stakes of the story well enough to earn the “big” moments The Secrets of Dumbledore wants to have. Rowling continues to criminally backburn Jacob Kowalski and his love Queenie’s (Alison Sudol) relationship. The best parts of these Fantastic Beasts movies are Kowalski’s audience avatar moments, equally wowed and confused at what magic can do, and his big heart towards the beautiful but fragile Queenie. But the biggest sin of Secrets of Dumbledore is the incoherent storytelling and dreary set design. I understand that times are bad during this magic supremacist uprising, but not every scene has to be awash in grey or darkness, immediately sedating the audience. I won’t spoil the plot here, but suffice to say the minute you start saying it out loud to yourself, you can’t help but laugh at how flimsy and pretty stupid it is for how brilliant Dumbledore supposedly is.
I suppose I’m more hopeful than I was for more Fantastic Beasts movies because of The Secrets of Dumbledore, but not by much. At least it inspires some thirsty Jude Law/Mads Mikkelsen fan fiction. Or at least the Dumbledaddy Grundlewald Fantastic Beasts porno that’s just sitting right there for someone to make.