[Rating: Rock Fist Way Down]
Now in theaters
When I personally think of a franchise that overstayed its welcome the second the first film came out, I immediately think of the Fantastic Beasts movies. Now in its third out of (supposedly) five films, its latest outing The Secrets of Dumbledore strips away, yet again, all the magic that made this Wizarding World actually magical. People will sometimes say movies are cursed and by all accounts this new Harry Potter franchise is an unforgivable curse at that.
Based on the mind of she-who-must-not-be-named, The Secrets of Dumbledore is a continuation of the last film in which we learn Credence (Ezra Miller – wanted in the state of Hawaii) is actually a Dumbledore. He’s convinced of this by dark wizard Grindlewald (Mads Mikkelsen) and together they lead a group of witches and wizards that want to take over the Wizarding world and wage war against the muggles. Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner), Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams), and Jacob Kowalsi (Dan Fogler) to stop Grindlewald’s scheming before it impacts the magical world and all hell breaks loose. Dumbledore himself cannot defeat Grindelwald as they have a secret backstory that seems pulled out of thin air.
I didn’t like this movie. When a world I loved so dearly growing up (and still do) is rewritten by its own creator and the filmmakers pander to the audiences only to have such disdain in this critic’s thought process, you’ve done something wrong.
Not to mention how much behind the scenes bullshit this movie has with one of its stars having a lot of bad press, one character being recast because of bad press (although Mads Mikkelsen is pretty great in this), and one author whose fan base easily turned against them. This series should just end. Even the movie itself feels like it ends on a solid note with no sequels in the future.
When will this franchise end? Hopefully sooner rather than later. The Secrets of Dumbledore does not understand where it wants to go and spends more time talking about things than actually pointing a wand and making a rabbit come out of hat. There’s no joy or feeling in this shitty movie.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
Comments on this entry are closed.