This is not a review of the third Fantastic Beasts. I am not going to make a review as I do not feel like I can review it properly. This is me discussing some points to why it disappointed me as a fan of the Harry Potter universe. So if you have yet to watch it and want to avoid spoilers, I recommend to leave this page now. If you want my honest opinion about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, then I do not know what to tell you. I am torn, on one hand it is a fine cosy movie that fits with the previous two. On the other hand the plot has some problems which I will delve into below.
1) The Qilin
A big part of the plot in the movie is the Qilin; a very rare magical creature so pure it can see into the hearts of people. The wizard society puts great value on the Qilin and they use it in the election process for the new leader of the wizarding world. So it is very odd that this very rare and immensely valuable best is left alone in the wild with absolutely no protection of any kind. Grindelwald's henchmen literally walked up killed the mother Qilin, stole the baby Qilin and nobody other than Newt knew. And Newt only knew because he was there on a mission from Dumbledore.
Dumbledore apparently guessed Grindelwald's plans and hoped to procure the Qilin before it was too late. And it just was lucky enough that the Qilin had twins and Grindelwald only abducted one of them. So when the final moments of the elections was happening they had the second Qilin to prove that Grindelwald had cheated. Talk about convenience.
Also during the ceremony, the Qilin bowed before Albus, a gesture that symbolises that Albus is truly pure of heart. Which we all know is bullshit. Albus might be fighting on the side of good but he is not pure of heart. He is manipulative and calculating and is willing to use any means necessary in his fight for the good. He literally throws Harry, a mere child, into several deadly situations just to test if he ready and progress his development. The entire moment would have been much better if the Qilin bowed to Jacob, since there had already been talked about how good a person he is and how big a heart he got. Also Jacob is a muggle and if this magical creature had bowed to him symbolising that he would have been a good leader for the wizarding world would have been the end of Grindelwald.
2) The Secrets of Dumbledore
The second movie ended with a big cliff hanger where Credence was told he in reality was a Dumbledore. This created many discussions as Credence was told he was the lost brother to Albus and Aberforth and that was more or less impossible. First of, there had been no talk of a third (and lost) brother in the Harry Potter books. Secondly, Kendra Dumbledore (Albus mother) died two years before Credence was born. So that would have been a miracle baby. So the question still stood, who is Credence. It turns out that he is Aberforth's son who nobody knew about because Credence's mother moved away while she was pregnant and Aberforth did not share it with anybody. Fine, that is acceptable, the Dumbledores are a secretive family and Aberforth is really just a minor site character in the Harry Potter books. So what is the importance of Credence for the story? Grindelwald wanted him to kill Dumbledore because he has a great power inside caused by the obscurial. But Credence did not leave a scratch on Albus and was easily defeated any other henchmen could have taken that place. And in the end he was just there so Albus can cast a spell to protect him and in the act break the blood oath that prevented him from fighting Grindelwald. And again any other of Dumbledore's allies could have been standing in Credence's place. Credence was more or less unimportant for the story.
And for a man who is widely known for being a very secretive man, Albus just blurts out his inner secrets to everyone. A big part of the 6th and 7th Harry Potter book was that nobody really knew who Albus was as a person. I understand that many fans have been a little annoyed with how it was revealed that Albus was gay and this movie really cements it in the lore. But for Albus just to openly tell people that he and Grindelwald was in love and how he might have killed his own sister just seems a little too honest for Albus.
Also Aberforth and Albus have very strained relationship due to the events leading up their sisters death. They would not be spending so much time together as they did in this movie.
3) The Big Battle
When the blood oath was finally broken (even though it was weak scripted) the big battle between Albus and Grindelwald was to commence. Three movies had been building to this point and it got to be an epic battle. According to the Harry Potter books the final battle between Albus and Grindelwald was something many wish they had witnessed. But this battle was somewhat disappointing. Albus battle with Credence was more interesting. The blood oath breaks and falls in slow motion while Albus and Grindelwald cast various spells, which means in reality the battle is over in just seconds. Also their battle takes place in some kind of bubble, so nobody can even see what is happening. And besides from a few linked spells it is just as disappointing as Harry's final battle with Voldemort. The battle ends with them standing in front of each other with a hand over the others heart feeling the heartbeats and then they walk away. And Grindewald was just allowed to escape. But would Albus, mister pure of heart, let him escape. Any evil doing that Grindelwald does from point on is on Albus hands.
Grindelwald escaping does mean that the big battle in the end of this movie is not necessarily the final battle between Albus and Grindelwald.
I had more things, like how unnecessary the opening scene was, or how there was not any kind of small mention to why Grindelwald had changed appearance, but as I wrote through the other points and let the steam off, I forgot it. But these are the big points in why I, as a big Harry Potter fan, was disappointed by Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
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