«Is »Dumbledore's Secrets" just another scam?

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

Our answer to the title of this article is a resounding «yes and no». For if this third installment of the Fantastic Animals Although the story is unnecessarily long, and offers nothing very consistent or fluid, we are delighted to discover Gellert Grindelwald, brilliantly played by Mads Mikkelsen. But there's one nasty surprise in particular that makes the final balance clearly negative. Spoiler alert.

J. K. Rowling, creator of global success Harry Potter, had stated that the last film in the saga, released in 2011, brought the literary and cinematic adventure to an end. But four years later, she backtracked on this statement, announcing that she had signed the script for a new big-screen saga also set in the wizarding world: Fantastic Animals. Adapted from a book by the author in which she lists the various beasts of this universe, this new series takes place some sixty years before the action of Harry Potter featuring magical animals. But that's not all. For this era is marked by the rise to power of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald and his confrontation with a character well known to fans of the franchise: Albus Dumbledore.

Welcome to Hogwarts!

The famous Hogwarts teacher is at the center of the third instalment of the Fantastic animals, set in the 1930s, on the eve of the Second World War. Or at least, it is supposed to be at the heart of this affair. While Dumbledore (Jude Law) does indeed call on magizoologist Norbert Dragonneau (Eddie Redmayne) and his companions to counter the plans of Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen, replacing Johnny Depp), whose influence is growing, very little is said about his secrets during the film. At most, one or two intimate details, which readers of’Harry Potter already know.

Read also | Fantastic Animals, the first part of a new saga in the wizarding world

Worse still, there'll be no mention of Hogwarts either. Although the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry is used as bait on the film's poster and visuals (see the header image of this article, which will surely have made you want to look further!), only 10 minutes of the Dumbledore's secrets take place in this setting. An absolute scandal in terms of false advertising. If the key to the plot were still to be found in this institution, which has left its mark on so many minds over the last thirty years, it would be understandable. But it doesn't.

Two plots that hold together less and less well

Let's talk about the plot. From Berlin to Bhutan, the viewer is treated to a succession of adventures that may be dynamic, but in the end, nothing much happens. In fact, it's often hard to see the point of any given scene or character. The segues are scabrous, and the original music, a sort of long symphonic compilation of Hollywood gizmos, gives the viewer an impression of sloppiness. As for the presence of two different plots (the one revolving around the Dumbledore-Grindelwald confrontation, and the one featuring Norbert Dragonneau and his fantastic beasts), it still struggles to justify itself, which does nothing to improve the overall picture.

So yes, some of the monsters of the deep may impress the (young, but not only) public. Yes, a couple of the bugs are cute too. And yes, there's some of the magic of J. K. Rowling's books in the lightness of the dialogue and situations. But by Merlin's beard, the flaws that were already apparent in the second installment - which Lauriane Pipoz and I had criticized - are still there. under the title «Fantastic Animals 2 or how to make money».» - are unacceptable here! Poor treatment of character psychology, inconsistency with the Harry Potter story, winks that are there just to be there... Et cetera et cetera.

Mads Mikkelsen, first-class black magician

Fortunately, this CGI-inflated film has one pleasant surprise: the excellent acting of Mads Mikkelsen. The role of Grindelwald had been taken from Johnny Depp due to the controversy surrounding the American actor, accused by his ex-wife of beating her. The Dane plays the evil wizard with his own sweet-diabolical touch, perfectly in tune with the personality of Dumbledore's former lover, now his enemy. At no point do we regret Johnny Depp's flat performance. We even forget that there's been a change of actor, which wasn't a foregone conclusion.

Unfortunately, this quality doesn't make us forget the rest. And we leave the cinema half-melancholy, half-weary, ashamed to feel that we'll continue to follow the saga just to see how it continues... If it continues. After the previous film's mixed success, Warner Studios is no doubt waiting for the commercial results of this third installment before deciding whether or not to go ahead with the fifth, as originally planned, or whether, on the contrary, to pull the plug. Perhaps a fourth and final film based on the legendary battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, with a strong focus on Hogwarts, would be the best solution.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com