Law unto himself
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE Cert 12A ★★★ In cinemas now
Is JK Rowling’s money-making spell beginning to wear off ? The first two instalments of her Potter prequel failed to charm fans or shift merchandise. After all, everyone knows a kid with a Hogwarts cape, but has anyone ever pined for a Newt Scamander scarf ?
Rowling seems to have twigged this over-stuffed and overly serious series was heading to the dark side.
So in this third of a planned five-movie series, Eddie Redmayne’s charisma-lite Newt is pushed to the sidelines to allow a Hogwarts’ favourite to take centre stage. As the title suggests, this 142-minute film is mostly about the spat between the now openly gay Dumbledore ( Jude Law) and his bitter, powercrazed ex (we’ve all got one) Grindelwald.
The evil wizard (Mads Mikkelsen, replacing the cancelled Johnny Depp) remains crushingly familiar (he’s Voldemort with a nose) but the Danish actor delivers a less showy and more creepy villain.
Now we’re in the 1930s and Grindelwald is hoping to hijack an election and become the first anti-Muggle leader of the magical world.
When Dumbledore and Grindelwald were young lovers, they made a blood pact never to fight each other, and sealed it in a magical amulet.
But while the Hogwarts’ headmaster can’t stop him with magic, he can scheme from the sidelines.
So a crack team is assembled made up of Newt, Newt’s brother Theseus (Callum Turner), witch Eulalie Hicks ( Jessica Williams) and Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler).
Highlights include a subterranean prison break and a spectacular wand fight in the streets of Berlin.
It’s more entertaining than the first two films but there’s still a Hogwarts-sized hole in this series. I suspect it was the childish wonder of its young heroes that made the original Potter movies so magical.
‘‘ Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen delivers a less showy and more creepy villain