I don't get the reviews saying that this movie is a step back in the right direction. The last installment of the franchise wasn't great. But with the secrets of Dumbledore, the hole just got deeper.
Fantastic Beasts is a franchise that has no clue on what it wants to focus on. Is it the fantastic beasts, discovering new magical species, learning new things about the wizarding world and its relationship to nature? Is it the relationship and conflict between Dumbledore and Grindelwald? Is it the politics of the wizarding world, the relationship with the Muggles? Who is the main character? Newt Scamander? Albus Dumbledore? Jacob Kowalski? This franchise is completely unfocused and tries to tackle all the things mentionned before to make a giant mix of everything. As a consequence, a lot of things happen in the movie, but nothing has a proper development either.
Then come the characters. Fantastic Beasts has always had a huge problem with them since none of them got developed properly throughout the three movies. Sure, they encounter some difficulties and challenges, but do they evolve, change with the events that occur? NO! Because every time a character has some potential to evolve, they will somehow be brought back to square one. The characters of Queenie, Creedance and Grindelwald are aboslute mess at this point. In the second film, Grindelwald was an adversary with ruthless methods, but it was also made clear that he pointed some real problem about the wizard community and that his views were shared by a lot of people. Nevermind, in the third opus, Grindelwald will be a cartoon villain that delivers some cliche dialog, does something unnecessary evil everytime the plot needs him to to prove he is the bad guy, just because... There is no more ambivalence about the character that made him different from previous villains like Voldmort.
Queenie had chosen the side of Grindelwald at the end of the previous movie. In the third installment, the script writers try to paint her as someone conflicted, and by the end of the movie, as you probably guessed it, she changed sides again and is back with the "good guys". The problem: at no point in the movie have Queenie's values and convictions been tested in a manner that could justify her change of heart. It just happens because J. K. Rowling wants it to.
Finally, let's talk about Creedance. Already in the second movie, the presence of Creedance was hard to justify since he was supposed to be dead after the first movie. The reason of his survival never got explained in a satisfying manner and the way the character was handled was far form ideal. At his point in the franchise, it is simple: you just can't relate with what the character is going through. Ezra Miller put on a good performance. You understand that Creedance is frustrated, unsatisfied, but it is never explained why, what he wants out of life, how he sees himself on the grand picture of the conflict. He is at best a useful tool to justify the plot.
It is hard to relate to characters that don't know any real development, change from one movie to another without satisfying explanation and simply put, characters that the script writers don't know how to handle. There are just too many and they don't always fit well with the plot, like Newt Scamander for example. The characters are not part of the story because what they do is relevant. They are there to be used as plot devices mainly and that makes the whole thing kind of mechanical and heartless.
One other problem is that this franchise is mainly geared to people that like or love the universe of Harry Potter, know its story and understand its references. It doesn't try to make the plot and story appealing or interesting for people that are not familiar with the wizarding world. You are just supposed to care for what is proposed to you, even though there is an apparent lack of real tension and drama that could keep you guessing. Since the beginning of the franchise, no major character has died, no huge catastrophy or setback occured. At the end of every movie, the plans of the bad guy (Grindelwald) get defeated in some manner or delayed. And the films are extremely plot driven. Plot point after plot point after plot point. The overall story is much less important.
However, there are some good things too. The music of James Newton Howard is as always extremely enjoyable and adds a nice touch to the magical world. The CGI is not great in this movie, but not horrible either. For those with a keen eye, differenciating a green screen from a natural decor is fairly easy in this movie in comparison with the previous ones where the CGI was way above average compared to the quality of what you usually with these kind of productions. Acting is good, especially Dan Fogler who plays Jacob Kowalski. I overall enjoyed all the performances. But the problem is not there. The problem is that the flaws that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is known for have gotten bigger and bigger with each movie in such a way that it has become difficult for me to enjoy the movie. And I am a Harry Potter fan. I grew up with both the films and the books. But past glories doesn't justify a drop of quality for contents related to the wizarding worlds. It is time to solve the problems and not make them bigger!
Fantastic Beasts is a franchise that has no clue on what it wants to focus on. Is it the fantastic beasts, discovering new magical species, learning new things about the wizarding world and its relationship to nature? Is it the relationship and conflict between Dumbledore and Grindelwald? Is it the politics of the wizarding world, the relationship with the Muggles? Who is the main character? Newt Scamander? Albus Dumbledore? Jacob Kowalski? This franchise is completely unfocused and tries to tackle all the things mentionned before to make a giant mix of everything. As a consequence, a lot of things happen in the movie, but nothing has a proper development either.
Then come the characters. Fantastic Beasts has always had a huge problem with them since none of them got developed properly throughout the three movies. Sure, they encounter some difficulties and challenges, but do they evolve, change with the events that occur? NO! Because every time a character has some potential to evolve, they will somehow be brought back to square one. The characters of Queenie, Creedance and Grindelwald are aboslute mess at this point. In the second film, Grindelwald was an adversary with ruthless methods, but it was also made clear that he pointed some real problem about the wizard community and that his views were shared by a lot of people. Nevermind, in the third opus, Grindelwald will be a cartoon villain that delivers some cliche dialog, does something unnecessary evil everytime the plot needs him to to prove he is the bad guy, just because... There is no more ambivalence about the character that made him different from previous villains like Voldmort.
Queenie had chosen the side of Grindelwald at the end of the previous movie. In the third installment, the script writers try to paint her as someone conflicted, and by the end of the movie, as you probably guessed it, she changed sides again and is back with the "good guys". The problem: at no point in the movie have Queenie's values and convictions been tested in a manner that could justify her change of heart. It just happens because J. K. Rowling wants it to.
Finally, let's talk about Creedance. Already in the second movie, the presence of Creedance was hard to justify since he was supposed to be dead after the first movie. The reason of his survival never got explained in a satisfying manner and the way the character was handled was far form ideal. At his point in the franchise, it is simple: you just can't relate with what the character is going through. Ezra Miller put on a good performance. You understand that Creedance is frustrated, unsatisfied, but it is never explained why, what he wants out of life, how he sees himself on the grand picture of the conflict. He is at best a useful tool to justify the plot.
It is hard to relate to characters that don't know any real development, change from one movie to another without satisfying explanation and simply put, characters that the script writers don't know how to handle. There are just too many and they don't always fit well with the plot, like Newt Scamander for example. The characters are not part of the story because what they do is relevant. They are there to be used as plot devices mainly and that makes the whole thing kind of mechanical and heartless.
One other problem is that this franchise is mainly geared to people that like or love the universe of Harry Potter, know its story and understand its references. It doesn't try to make the plot and story appealing or interesting for people that are not familiar with the wizarding world. You are just supposed to care for what is proposed to you, even though there is an apparent lack of real tension and drama that could keep you guessing. Since the beginning of the franchise, no major character has died, no huge catastrophy or setback occured. At the end of every movie, the plans of the bad guy (Grindelwald) get defeated in some manner or delayed. And the films are extremely plot driven. Plot point after plot point after plot point. The overall story is much less important.
However, there are some good things too. The music of James Newton Howard is as always extremely enjoyable and adds a nice touch to the magical world. The CGI is not great in this movie, but not horrible either. For those with a keen eye, differenciating a green screen from a natural decor is fairly easy in this movie in comparison with the previous ones where the CGI was way above average compared to the quality of what you usually with these kind of productions. Acting is good, especially Dan Fogler who plays Jacob Kowalski. I overall enjoyed all the performances. But the problem is not there. The problem is that the flaws that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is known for have gotten bigger and bigger with each movie in such a way that it has become difficult for me to enjoy the movie. And I am a Harry Potter fan. I grew up with both the films and the books. But past glories doesn't justify a drop of quality for contents related to the wizarding worlds. It is time to solve the problems and not make them bigger!
