Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) Movie Review

Hello guys and welcome back for another round of movie reviews with Movie Nerd, a place where you can be nerdy about movies!

So, here we are again guys and Potter fans of the Wizarding World, in another venture into the magical land of the Harry Potter universe with the third entry in the Fantastic Beasts series, a series that started out quite well, then dropped significantly with the second movie. Will this third one bring back the magic? Did it? Well, I shall answer those questions immediately but, first, a little synopsis for you wizards out there:

• Set several years after the events of its predecessor, the film sees Albus Dumbledore tasking Newt Scamander and his allies with a mission that takes them into the heart of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald's army.

What I can tell you, 100%, is that this movie is a definite improvement from the second one, it really avoids the pitfalls that movie fell into and really manages to create some few emotions for the Potter fans, that enjoyed the Harry Potter movies and, honestly, it may bring some new fans into this world.

The visuals are amazing, the movie offers some fantastic imagery and special effects, with some great animal CGI, that is so good that you can be fooled into thinking that those fantastical beasts are real and not digitally made. Plus, the attention to detail on the creatures design is amazing. Being on the subject of the creatures, I really enjoyed that the movie was more focused on the fantastic beasts rather than putting them as a secondary point in the story or as a background character, like they did in the second movie. With Newt as well, making him, the creatures and his friends the main focus of the movie, with Grindelwald as the antagonist, which, although Depp was replaced with Mads, the character is still not that threatening or frightening. Even with Mads acting techniques, the characters is still not menacing enough and that really brings this whole series on a much lower level from the Harry Potter movies.

The story is an improvement as well, using the heist movie style, with a leader assembling a team of people to go up against a bad guy, using some techniques that felt to familiar because they were used in other movies, making it a bit predictable.

The nostalgia is the main magic trick that this movie pulls because it's filled with not so subtle, well, for the Potter fans nonetheless, call backs to the Potter films, from the little hints to the main Harry Potter theme and seeing Hogwarts again. Listen, nostalgia is good when it's not being used to much and, here, I don't think is the case. They play on nostalgia a good amount of the movie but it did not feel over exaggerated plus, when that theme song hit, I got some shivers down my spine and some emotions ran through me, a feeling that I got a while back, when I saw the three Spider Men in Spider Man: No Way Home. It was a nice feeling, coming back to Hogwarts like that.

Another thing that this movie did well, was that it gave us some revelations or reveals that were only hinted at in the previous movies. He find out more of the relation between Dumbledore and Grindelwald plus we find out what really happened with Ariana, Dumbledore's sister and who Credence really is, apart from being a Dumbledore that is. I am not going to spoil it here, I will let you find those answers to those secrets by yourself.

Overall, a significant improvement on the previous movie, visually pleasing, a pacing that felt uneven unfortunately, with some great fighting sequences and amazing special effects, good performances and a story that, not only leans on nostalgia but also touches a totalitarian subject, with some good reveals and unexpected, I might add. Unfortunately, it does not bring the magic back, as those Harry Potter movies had and I don't think this series will ever. It's still lacking that magic touch, I'm afraid. 6.8/10

OK guys, that was my review for this one. Next up, I wanna say the second Sonic movie but I'm not sure. Until Doctor Strange. Till then, take care, stay safe and movie nerdy and keep on reviewing!