Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

Rowling experiments boldly with queer themes and a Cabaret-like political edge in 1930s Berlin, making for a risky but rousing hybrid that is a work in progress but within a whisker of being fantastic.

This is the best entry in the franchise yet as it leans into Harry Potter mythology with Jude Law's Dumbledore front and centre and effective human drama, though it lacks real peril and visual distinction.

The film is an improvement on the previous entry with more fun, solid action and moments of genuine heart, though it falls short of the original Potter heights due to muddled plotting and flat direction.

The film is a pointed political primer on totalitarianism and an election in the wizarding world, making it the most absorbing and well-paced entry in the trilogy despite its length. It centers Grindelwald's campaign against Muggles rather than a tedious monster chase.

The film is a muscular story with unexpected soul, slickly directed and improved over the previous entry by trimming excess. It makes for a fitting potential end to the series.

This vastly improved sequel fleshes out the anti-fascist message with Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald and a more focused screenplay. It reveals emotional depths in the Dumbledore-Grindelwald relationship and feels like a prestige serialized story.

The film is amiable and visually impressive fantasy entertainment with strong production design. The narrative feels weightless and formless despite intriguing timeline questions.

Mads Mikkelsen is chilling as the new Grindelwald and the film gains emotional heft with satisfying plot progress, but it is a polished prequel that dials down visual wonder and animal set-pieces.

The narrative is far more streamlined than the previous entry with some fun moments, especially involving Newt's creatures, but the film is still too long, relies on exposition and cheap nostalgia, and feels like a franchise unsure of its identity.

The plotting may be convoluted and the runtime rambling, but there’s still some magic left in the Wizarding World. The cast is ace, especially Redmayne, and the gentle humour and fantastical beasties make for an appealing escape.

The film buries timely messages under a mountain of mythology and lacks the urgency and magic of Harry Potter. It is a humorless slog despite attractive visuals and production design.

The third installment improves slightly on the previous one but remains overstuffed with too many characters and plotlines and too little magic. It centers an election-rigging story amid the Dumbledore-Grindelwald romance but feels unnecessary and inferior to the original Harry Potter series.

Nuance has disapparated from the wizarding world altogether, though the film works best as a smoothly built action flick in moments requiring little context. As a contribution to the Harry Potter universe, it earns ten points from Slytherin.

The film is a slog more than an event and more focused than its predecessor but still disappointing overall. The critic singles out the strong production team for recreating the rich Wizarding World.

The third prequel is a shambolic production hampered by incoherent plotting and recasting issues. It lacks the warmth and logic of the original Potter films despite some emotional moments.

This flailing franchise cannot conjure real magic in an unwieldy mash-up of adult themes and childish whimsy. It proves how hard it is to build a series on limited IP.

Impeccably crafted but only intermittently gripping, the third instalment has the scope of an epic while suffering from some of the same weaknesses as the first two chapters and feels oddly underwhelming.

The dour film doesn’t know why it’s here either and is woefully pleasure-free despite being slightly more coherent than the previous entry. It is stuck in limbo as a children’s story trying to support underdeveloped adult themes.

The film is a bafflingly bad, drab, gray anti-cinema project with no magic, wonder, stakes or resonance that feels like a contractual obligation. It is hampered by scandals, COVID protocols and a lack of commitment, making it best forgotten.

The critic finds it the best Fantastic Beasts film yet and the closest to recapturing the series' magic through stronger character focus, beasts sequences, and Dumbledore family lore. It still falls short of being truly fantastic but shows the franchise heading in a better direction.

The critic finds the film enjoyable for fans despite a cluttered plot with loose threads, praising the fantastic creatures and Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander as highlights while noting Mads Mikkelsen's Grindelwald lacks menace.

The film is a vast improvement on its predecessor but remains overstuffed and chaotic in the first two acts with too much information. It settles into a satisfying third act with strong set design and world-building.

The critic finds it the most satisfying and exciting chapter yet, blending 1930s war drama vibes with Mission: Impossible-style plots and timely themes. It still falls short due to convoluted plotting, thin world-building, and feeling extraneous compared to the original Harry Potter films.

Familiar criticisms of the plodding and convoluted story persist, but the film cannot escape the shadow of its creator's controversies, which shape the viewing experience and mar its moments of victory.

The critic calls it a disappointing slog lacking focus and storytelling magic despite an impressive cast and spectacle. Bright spots include the energy between Jude Law's Dumbledore and Mads Mikkelsen's Grindelwald, plus fun creature sequences.

The critic laments the lack of magic and focus, criticizing the sidelining of characters and weak plot points, while noting some political intrigue sequences and praising Dan Fogler's performance.

The critic portrays the film as a zombified franchise lurching forward into electoral scandal and mythos at the expense of its original premise, resulting in mission drift and bland execution. Some whimsical moments and the beasts stand out amid an otherwise depressing and unfocused political thriller tone.

The review deems the series lost and without reason to continue, faulting narrative whiplash, reversals of prior plot points, lack of focus, and metatextual problems around its creator. It notes some strong elements like the Dumbledore-Grindelwald chemistry and beasts but sees the whole as directionless.