A Pleasant Return to the Magic? It’s Complicated.

While “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” improves upon its previous perils, the story still falls short

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” hit theaters last week, marking an almost four-year period since 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”

After COVID-related delays, a full script rewrite — and shrouds of controversy — the franchise faces a steep task in reengaging moviegoers and justifying the continued existence of the series.

“Fantastic Beasts” coincided in 2016 with stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” as the first attempts to extend the Harry Potter universe into new material. While both mediums have received mixed reactions, fans worldwide have proven that there is still a large demand for new stories taking place in the Wizarding World.

Despite what the first half of the title suggests, this movie followed in the direction of the last film, focusing almost entirely on legacy character Albus Dumbledore and his battle against dark wizard Grindelwald. This story sees Dumbledore assemble six unlikely wizards, some familiar, some new, in an elaborate plan to stop Grindelwald from becoming more powerful. The group travels all the way from fan-favorite Hogwarts, to Germany, and finally to Bhutan in the film’s two hour, 22-minute runtime.

Overall, this film feels more cohesive and is a decidedly better addition than “Crimes of Grindelwald.” While this doesn’t render it immune from some negative aspects, it serves as a much more enjoyable experience holistically.

As has come to be expected in Wizarding World films, the visual effects and musical score were superb. The series continues to innovate when it comes to visualizing magic, and this new installment was no different. Even more, this movie also seemed to make a concerted effort to return to some of the more whimsical and eccentric qualities of early “Harry Potter” films that were lost in more recent additions.

Notable too was the acting throughout “Secrets of Dumbledore.” Main characters Newt Scamander, portrayed by Eddie Redmayne, and Albus Dumbledore, portrayed by Jude Law, stood out for their vulnerable and committed performances. This strength became especially clear in Jude Law as the story focused more intently on the secretive backstory of Dumbledore. Finally, Mads Mikkelsen replaced Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, a move that was surprisingly not addressed in the film’s story. However, this didn’t stop Mikkelsen from delivering a solidly frightening villain performance.

Still, where “Secrets of Dumbledore” comes up short is the story itself. This movie falls victim to what franchises like “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park” have also struggled with: an indecision about whether to please fans with nostalgia or tell a new story. “Secrets of Dumbledore” neglects to do either well.

The glimpses of “new” story that were seen in the original “Fantastic Beasts” like characters Tina and Queenie Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski are reduced now to pawns in a battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald and are mostly denied character development of their own. On the flip side, nostalgia-infused plot points surrounding Hogwarts and Dumbledore seem rushed and to only care about tying new developments into the “Harry Potter” story. While it's clear that fans want new stories in the Wizarding World, “Fantastic Beasts” has seemed unable to keep a finger on the pulse of this demand.

So, while the “Fantastic Beasts” series was announced to be five films in 2016, it will likely be up to the box office performance to determine whether this admittedly underwhelming contribution will be the last.