And the whole movie hinges on the actions of a rare, deer-like animal called a qilin (pronounced chillin, which this film isn’t for a second), who possesses impeccable psychic insight. There’s a delightfully weird dance sequence involving a bunch of scorpion-like creatures in a dungeon, the rare scene that finds a balance between fun and frights. Teddy the pickpocket platypus is always good for a laugh.

Newt Scamander’s stick-bug pal, Pickett, is small and sweet and endlessly resourceful. Sure, the titular creatures can be adorable.

Really, it is! So if you go to fantasy extravaganzas like this to escape the troubles of reality, you may want to look elsewhere. Keeping all those plates spinning looks awfully strenuous, especially within a franchise that’s all about lifting a wand and making life easier with the flick of a wrist.Īt its core, amidst all that mayhem, this is a movie about election rigging. Despite all that expertise-or perhaps because of it-“The Secrets of Dumbledore” feels overstuffed as it lumbers from one plotline to another. Rowling, creator of the entire universe, who wrote the first two scripts solo. Veteran “Potter” screenwriter Steve Kloves returns to this world, joining J.K. David Yates is back once again as director, having helmed the previous two “Fantastic Beasts” and the final four “Harry Potter” movies. It’s just one more element in a film crammed with too many characters, too much plot, and too little actual magic. They can fly over Hogwarts and play a snippet of the soaring John Williams theme as young wizards chase the snitch in a game of Quidditch (an image that inspired my 12-year-old son to groan, “Fan service!” during a recent screening). They’re all chasing the dragon of that astronomical, worldwide, once-in-a-generation “Harry Potter” success, but each new movie in this spinoff franchise reminds us of how unnecessary and inferior they are.

This third installment is somewhat of an improvement over 2018’s dour “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” and it’s about on par with the first film in the series, 2016’s whimsical “ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” in terms of pure enjoyment. They’re extremely OK, but never truly inspiring or transporting. These “Fantastic Beasts” movies are just not good.

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