Reviewing The Fantastic Beasts Trilogy
It was inevitable that the Harry Potter universe would continue to grow - the Wizarding World had simply made too much money to be ignored. And maybe J. K. Rowling has a plan for giving this prequel era a thoroughly fulfilling finale the same way she did last time. You can't blame anyone for giving this a shot - but once you've dived in, there seems little doubt that these films exist for the sole purpose of bringing in cash - not for telling a good story.
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (***)
The first time I watched this, I figured the reason I didn’t love it was because I hadn’t been paying close enough attention. The second time proved me wrong.
Fantastic Beasts earned over 800 million dollars at the box office, and it’s little surprise why. Much like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, this film was the prequel to one of the most popular fantasy worlds of all time. It didn’t matter how good or bad the film was going to be – its very existence would get butts in seats. Unfortunately, this may have impacted the production of the film itself. While I don’t think the movie is quite the disappointment that The Phantom Menace was to a lot of people, I have to say that this movie may have rested too confidently on the shoulders of its predecessors instead of charting its own course. The plot itself has all the marks of a classic Rowling adventure – a mystery with a twist, a spoonful of whimsy, and an eclectic cast of characters that work together in interesting ways. And to give due credit to the script, I actually read the screenplay before watching the film – and I had nothing but good things to say after reading it. So why don’t I have that same sense of satisfaction here?
I think part of it has to do with the film’s lead, Newt Scamander. Eddie Redmayne gives us a spirited performance as a quirky animal-lover, but his character isn’t afforded the same charisma or relatability that other previous wizard characters have been given. We know little about Newt’s motivations – we know he likes animals, but that’s about it. Why does he like animals? What’s so important about getting this one thunderbird to Arizona? The stakes seem shockingly low for a protagonist, and it’s only when the Obscurial bursts into the streets of New York in the film’s climax that our hero finally stands to make a significant mark in the world of the story. There’s nothing wrong with a character that wants to protect these animals, but the stakes are never made clear. Perhaps if we had witnessed the mistreatment of animals at the hands of other wizards, or if there was some sort of intense personal relationship that had inspired Newt to go on this quest, it would have felt a bit more satisfying. As it stood, there just didn’t seem to be a lot of necessity behind this story.
The other thing that I realized (and correct me, please, if I’m wrong) was how quiet this film is. You don’t think about things like score or soundtrack so much when you’re reading a book, but there were multiple scenes in the film that seemed content to just let the characters talk or sit around without any background music. Moments that could have been more poignant came across as patient at best, or awkward at worst. It didn’t feel like the film was in high gear until the Obscurial broke out.
To the film’s credit, from that moment on, I was hooked. The climax was a lot of fun, and the resolutions to the film’s problems were exciting and heartbreaking. Jacob and Queenie’s tear-jerking goodbye was one of the highlights of the whole picture. And yeah, the fantastic beasts were imaginative and exciting to look at.
All in all, though, I wouldn’t say this kicked things off with a bang (despite the massive amount of money it made). The film itself just doesn’t have the “wow factor” or sense of direction that the original Harry Potter flick did. Watching this film twice made me see that this movie just didn't enchant me the way the others did. Will things get better in the next two films? Maybe – but from what I’ve heard, that’s not the case.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (**1/2)
I really wanted to enjoy this, but I have to agree with the public consensus – there’s way too much going on here.
First and foremost, let’s look at the title of this film – it’s a “Fantastic Beasts” movie. That would imply that Newt Scamander is our main character. And for now, he is, but by the end of this flick it really seems like Albus Dumbledore is the one who deserves the spotlight. Newt is a guy who keeps finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the real fight really has nothing to do with him. It’s about Dumbledore and Grindelwald – ex-lovers whose old but unbreakable vow to not hurt each other stands in the way of each’s success. The final twist of the movie – that Credence is really Dumbledore’s brother somehow – highlights how little this story has to do with Newt. Let’s just call this prequel series “The Adventures of Dumbledore” or something along those lines and kick Newt to the curb.
There’s a lot of fluff that kept the movie a bit too bogged down for my liking. Tina thinks that Newt and Lestrange are engaged, and it takes way too long for him to straighten that out. Yusuf and Nicolas Flamel both take up far more screen time than they deserve – they’re each trying to tell their own story, but we’re not even sold on the main narrative yet. Queenie joins Grindelwald for a reason that doesn’t entirely make sense to me. As far as I can tell, she’s doing it to be with Jacob, a Muggle. But Grindelwald wants Muggles to be slaves…so how is this appealing to Queenie? I know Grindelwald never explicitly states to Queenie what his plans are for Muggles, but surely she knows enough about his reputation to make an informed decision. Narratively, it’s an exciting choice – splitting a romantic couple up over politics. But sensibly, there’s not enough there to make me believe it. Then there’s Grindelwald’s speech about how Muggles aren’t worse than wizards, just “different”. But then two seconds later, he talks about how wizards are “higher” than others. I know he’s the bad guy, but if he’s gonna make an evil speech, it should at least be a compelling or sound argument.
And how did Credence and Corvus both happen to be on that boat? You’re telling me that Leta just happened to swap her annoying famous wizard baby brother for another famous wizard baby on a Muggle ship without knowing it? Where did she get this other baby from? Maybe I missed it, but it seems super coincidental to me.
It now seems that both of these films have served as prologue to the real story – the battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. And to be clear, I’m all for a battle between these guys. That sounds great. But if that’s where we were headed all along, I think there was a faster way to get there.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (**)
Instead of casting reducio on the problems of its predecessor, Secrets of Dumbledore makes the catastrophic mistake of using engorgio – and trapping us in a world of too many stories and too few reasons to care.
The problems for Dumbledore began even before the cameras started rolling. After a domestic abuse fiasco involving Johnny Depp, the filmmakers decided to have a third actor portray the character of Grindelwald. While Mads Mikkelsen actually does a much better job in my opinion of playing a charismatic, sinister mastermind, the amount of face-swapping was beginning to get ridiculous. Then there’s the issue of Tina – our hero’s love interest who is inexplicably absent for 90% of the film. It really seems like Bunty’s role was ballooned into existence to fill the void that Tina left, presumably due to some sort of scheduling conflict that came up as the pandemic ravaged production plans. Queenie seems very different in appearance compared to her first two films – it’s not a better or worse thing, but for a moment or two I actually wondered if she had been recast, too. The entire film seemed to make it to the big screen on the strength of the studio alone – not based on the film’s own merit. It felt a bit like The Rise of Skywalker – a group project that had been cobbled together at the last minute to meet a deadline rather than the culmination (or at least continuation) of a well-crafted tale.
The focus of the franchise continues to shift away from Newt and any Fantastic Beasts – this point being made painfully evident during the prison escape scene with Newt and his brother. Honestly, as the scene was happening, I thought to myself – “Why is Theseus in prison again?” I honestly couldn’t remember. But even if that’s on me, it’s very obvious that the scene does nothing to enhance the quality of the film. It’s a scene that highlights Newt using his knowledge of magical creatures to facilitate an escape, and sure, it’s funny enough. But this scene doesn’t further the plot, and it doesn’t enhance our understanding of characters. It’s just an obstacle our characters overcome. There’s a lot of moments like that in the film – moments that make you wonder why they’re in there at all. Who cares about Yusuf? Who is this new Hogwarts teacher who’s now a part of the crew without anyone batting an eyelash? Why are we supposed to care about Bunty now? And why is the climax of the film such a heavy-handed look at the 2020 U.S. Presidential election? We get it – you don’t like Trump. I’m not a fan of him myself. But in a world where wizards and witches live under our noses as World War II grows closer by the day, I really think you can tell a story more interesting than election fraud. Talk to Emperor Palpatine – he can give you a rise-to-power story that gets the blood pumping.
Honestly, I feel at this point like Rowling and company should cut their losses and call it a day on this franchise. This film ends on a high enough note that you could conclude the series without anyone getting mad. Sure, Grindelwald is still out there, but you’ve beaten him for now, and everything else seems to be ending in an optimistic manner. Could the Wizarding World have a future on the big screen? Absolutely, it could. But the Fantastic Beasts franchise is starting to look more and more like that undead Qilin from this film’s climax – it looks like the magic you remember, but the life is completely gone.