"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" a welcome rebound that stands on its own

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

Even without Harry Potter and friends, the spin-off prequel franchise in the “Wizarding World” saga got off to a promising start with 2016’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” It was a brisk, whimsical delight and felt like a warm invisibility cloak being back in this world of make-believe. As for 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the stakes were raised and there were enough alluring elements to keep it from being a complete morass. But in the long run, that narrative bridge felt cluttered, bursting at the seams with a glossary of so many characters and story threads as if we were forced to cram for a final exam.

Though the future of this planned five-film series seems unknown, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” is not only a welcome rebound from its overstuffed, wheel-spinning predecessor but wholly satisfying on its own. David Yates is back once again, having directed the previous two “Fantastic Beasts” and the last four “Harry Potter” movies, and seems to reclaim his footing with “Harry Potter” screenwriter Steve Kloves joining universe creator J.K. Rowling to co-write the script. Compared to “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” this 1930s-set third installment feels almost incredibly streamlined and more evenly paced.

Eddie Redmayne’s endearingly fidgety magizoologist Newt Scamander is back to lugging around his suitcase of strange and fantastical beasts and having his adorable stick-pug Pickett in his pocket. This time, Newt comes across a newborn creature, a fawn-like animal called a qilin (sounds like chillin’). That qilin is soon captured by Credence (Ezra Miller) for dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen), who desires the creature’s power of foresight. To stop Grindelwald, Hogwarts professor and soon-to-be headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) assembles a group to foil his ex-lover’s plans in Berlin. There’s Newt’s brother Theseus (Callum Turner), Charms professor Eulalie “Lally” Hicks (Jessica Williams), Newt’s enthusiastic assistant Bunty Broadacre (Victoria Yeates), French pure-blood wizard and Leta Lestrange’s half-brother Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam), and New York-based No-Maj baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). 

Like most of the “Harry Potter” proper films, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” seems to capture the warmth and the grimness of this world better than most, while functioning as its own story with a beginning, a middle, and end. Production-wise, nothing feels artificial. The visual effects are spectacular and the more action-oriented set-pieces are far more transporting and intensely exciting, including Newt's early chase through a forest and an on-foot chase in Bhutan with identical suitcases, one of which will hold the qilin.

Even though Newt is less of a driving protagonist this time around but still a conduit into this world, Redmayne does get the chance to perform some physical comedy with a delightfully weird dance to divert some baby manticores in a dungeon. Once again, Dan Fogler is an absolute treasure as Jacob Kowalski, whose heart still belongs to the once-energetic Queenie (a more subdued but still fetching Alison Sudol) after she joined Grindelwald’s side. Refined yet menacing as he is prone to playing, Mads Mikkelsen is the right replacement for Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald. Though he is delectably villainous, Mikkelsen does find layers that make Grindelwald more than just a bad wizard; his opening scene with Jude Law’s Dumbledore fleetingly but palpably hints at what used to be between them. Getting a much meatier part to play than her run-to-the-bathroom-and-you-miss-it cameo in the last film, Jessica Williams is a charming standout as, appropriately, Charms professor Professor Hicks (who actually gives a helpful recap of the last film in playful conversation).

It’s almost quaint that “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” actually feels like a story being told rather than just franchise table-setting. With more than a handful of characters, not everyone is going to receive a dynamic arc, but here is a group of charming characters working together to bring the light back to the wizarding world. The urgency of the previous film is paid off here, coming to a lovely close that needn’t leave one hanging off a cliff. There’s a nice curtain call of sorts, to the point that Katherine Waterston’s Tina Goldstein (who sits this adventure out) returns with a glorified cameo. But if this does mean the end, that would be fine, too. At least this spin-off series would be remembered for making a solid pivot before it died on the vine. 

Grade: B 

Warner Bros. is releasing “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” (142 min.) in theaters on April 15, 2022.