Fantastic Beasts and Where Can I Find the Answers

Movies

BlabberingCollector | Apr 18, 2022 |

As a lifelong Wizarding World fan, I did my due diligence and headed to the cinema to watch Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. I went in with an open mind, and, overall, I enjoyed this movie. It gave us a lot of answers that we should have received in the second film, but left me with a lot of other questions and comments. Unfortunately, the official screenplay will not be out until July, so I cannot break down this film as much as I’d like. On the other hand, Hollywood thinks we need extra material to understand a movie, which shows just how poor Hollywood filmmaking has become. Props to all the actors and actresses; I thought they did a great job, and Mads Mikkelsen was terrific as Gellert Grindelwald.

SPOILERS AHEAD, TURN BACK, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.

The Wedding

Let’s start with the very last event in the film: the wedding. The first Fantastic Beasts took place in 1926, the second in 1927, and this one in 1932. Nowhere in the film is it mentioned that the Rappaport’s Law was repealed. In fact, upon research, it was apparently repealed in 1965, decades after the events of the three movies. This law stated that muggles (non-magical people/no-maj) and magical people (wizards and witches) could not get married. See Newt ridicule Tina on the law in the first film below.

We know that, in 1927, Queenie joins Gellert Grindelwald because she believes he can help her marry Jacob. She later finds out Grindelwald wants to wipe out all muggles and is horrified with her decision. Queenie wants to leave his cause and does her best to keep Jacob out of harm’s way when he is around her during the events of Secret of Dumbledore. In this film, we first see Jacob still mourning Queenie’s betrayal as though it was yesterday when it was five years later! At the end of the film, Jacob and Queenie get married. Since the law wasn’t repealed, how is this possible? The entire point of Queenie joining and leaving Jacob was to marry in public and not have to do so illegally. Further explanations are needed!

Dumbledore’s Secrets

I enjoyed that the film’s title, Secrets of Dumbledore, isn’t specific to any Dumbledore. Aberforth (Albus’ brother) kept his own secrets, even from Albus. The biggest and most important secret that answers many questions: Credence Barebone, or rather Aurelius Dumbledore. Aurelius is Aberforth’s secret son. However, this could have been handled better. Who really was his mother? Why don’t we see any flashbacks or more than a one-sentence answer? We don’t even know her name! What was Aurelius doing on the ship that sank? Why did Aberforth stay away? He knew about him, as they were seen communicating in the film. How long did he know about his son? It wasn’t dissected and discussed enough in the movie. This is a pretty important part of the plot! It’s barely even shown that Aberforth protects his son from Grindelwald; all focus is on Albus, and his love pact necklace shatters because of his and Grindelwald’s spells meeting.

It is revealed that Credence/Aurelius is dying because of his Obscurus. As Ezra Miller is in the dog house with Warner Bros., it might be possible that he dies between films, should they make a fourth one. Which leads me to ask, will they make a fourth film? There are supposed to be five films. Perhaps they will condense the fourth to be the final film, should this new one not profit as much as they’d like. Perhaps next time, they won’t open a movie during the Easter weekend.

5. Five. Cinq. Fünf. Cinco. Cinque. https://t.co/t8UVZMtO8V
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 13, 2016

According to this tweet from J.K.R. herself, there are five films planned, and she hints at the locations with various languages – English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. We have yet to travel to Italy, but we have seen New York, Berlin, Paris, and even Bhutan. As there are two films left, it is safe to say that they will take place in some shape or form in Spain (or some other Spanish-speaking country) and Italy.

Ariana Confirmed To Be An Obscurial

Since the release of the first Fantastic Beasts film, Wizarding World fans have been guessing if Ariana Dumbledore was an obscurial. We finally get a definitive”yes” from Albus Dumbledore. This is how he knows that Aurelius is dying. He is displaying the same signs as Ariana.

Funnily enough, months before this film came out, I had made a poll in a Wizarding World Facebook group asking if Ariana was an obscurial. Out of the 160 people who voted, 144 people agreed with me that Ariana was, in fact, an obscurial.

Qilin

The new magical creature introduced to this film is the Qilin, a deer-like beast that can look into a person’s soul and decide if they are pure of heart. This creature is an absolute joy to watch, as the baby is adorable and full of spirit. The baby Qilin is important to the plot; however, I will not spoil this one for you. You’ll have to watch the film to figure that out!

Nagini

Whatever happened to Nagini? Where is she? She was abandoned by Credence after he joined Grindelwald, and we last saw her at Hogwarts at the end of the second movie. There is absolutely no mention of her in this film. Will she return?

Theseus Scamander And Leta Lestrange

I adore Theseus. I thought he was a great addition to the second movie. I wish there were more scenes of him dueling, as he is the head of the British Auror Department. At the end of the film, Grindelwald jumps off the balcony and disapparates. Theseus immediately runs to the balcony full of anger, as he wanted to capture him. Grindelwald did murder Leta Lestrange, his fiancée, in the previous film. For such an important character to the Scamander brothers, Leta was barely mentioned in The Secrets of Dumbledore. I think it has to do with the large time jump. It was five years later, but it didn’t really feel like five years later.

I also always thought that Leta Lestrange wasn’t actually dead, but that she was somehow a prisoner of Grindelwald’s. Why introduce such an important character to the story simply to kill her off? She is a Lestrange, but seemed to have a better heart than the Lestranges that we know from the Potter series. Zoe Kravitz, who portrayed Leta, even said in an interview that she believed her character being killed off was “a last-minute change.”

My question is, how does Theseus get his wand back after Newt rescues him? He doesn’t have it whilst imprisoned, and it isn’t shown that Pickett the Bowtruckle has his wand; just Newt’s! But in the very next event, he is armed with his wand at the ready. And why don’t Theseus and Newt know who Aberforth is? Again, the events in this film are five years after the second one, but it feels like it just happened!

Not Woke

The fact that we have to state if a film was woke or not in today’s day and age is sad, but that’s the reality! I don’t think this movie was woke at all for various reasons. First, yes, the new leader elected during the 1932 International Confederation of Wizards is a woman, but she just so happens to be a woman. She did not state anything about being oppressed or being a feminist or how men are bad. She happened to be the best person of the three in the election and had the purest heart. Not to mention Albus Dumbledore declined the role first.

Second, they didn’t dumb down any of the guys to show how amazing the women were. All the men held their own. Theseus is my absolute favorite and was a total baddie, taking down Grindelwald’s followers alongside and equally matched with Lally.

It also shows men being fatherly figures to Aurelius. Aberforth and Albus want to keep him safe from harm as best as they can, given the current situation. As previously mentioned, they both simultaneously cast spells. They weren’t showing “bad fathers,” even though it is poorly explained why Aberforth stayed away. I believe we will find out in the next film. It’s also important to note that Aberforth takes Aurelius home with him in the end.

Supporting Characters

Newcomer Eulalie “Lally” Hicks was a breath of fresh air, and I really enjoyed watching her. I thought she was charming. Get it? Because she’s a charms professor! She really hits it off with Theseus, and they work together.

Bunty, who we saw for a few minutes in The Crimes of Grindelwald, shines in this film, as she is Newt’s assistant and the one who carries the Qilin creature in her suitcase. She’s fun and obviously likes Newt, but acknowledges that he loves Tina.

Yusuf was always confusing to me, even in the second film. Was he good? Was he bad? He was always so stoic and quiet. But in the end, he played his part, and it seems his memory of his half-sister being murdered by Grindelwald is erased by Grindelwald himself! Will anyone restore his memory?

Helmut is the German wizard who seems to be on Grindelwald’s side. Not much is known of him, and he doesn’t really shine in this film.

Tina was hardly in The Secrets of Dumbledore, and her excuse was that she was “very busy” being the head of the American Auror Department. To be fair, she wasn’t really missed, as she kind of has no personality. We see her in two scenes, and in one, she doesn’t even talk! Why was she omitted from this film? Was the actress busy and had a scheduling conflict since this movie was delayed? It just felt like lazy writing, and I thought she would have been involved in some secret side quest. Will her absence be discussed in the next film?

I’m also still waiting for an explanation on how Minerva McGonagall is already a teacher at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore And Gellert

The opening scene saw Grindelwald and Dumbledore meeting in a restaurant, except it is like another dimension, like looking into a mirror. It just doesn’t make much sense, and then, all of a sudden, he is in his office at Hogwarts. So was the meeting in, like, a dream-like sequence? Neither had left the houses and they magically appeared in a restaurant? It needs to be explained more! I believe the original screenplay will come in handy and answer my questions.

This happens again with Credence and Albus. Albus obviously wins the duel against Credence. He tells Credence that he didn’t know he existed, that Grindelwald is lying to him. Then uses his deluminator to bring the lights back, and they both go back to reality, where Credence finds himself lying in a puddle.

Dumbledore and Gellert feeling each other’s heartbeats and deciding to walk away from each other was interesting. They can duel each other with no problem now that the pact was broken. Again, they were, like, in another dimension whilst everyone was standing around. What were they doing? Could they see the duel? Gellert and Albus go back into the “real reality,” and everyone’s still standing around.

Props to both Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen, who replaced Johnny Depp; they did a phenomenal job!

Telling Not Showing

Epic_Mike made a very good point in his latest Geeks + Gamers video with JosiahRises, although he mentioned the wrong character. At the beginning of the film, we catch up with Jacob, who has returned to his bakery in New York City and is obviously depressed and heartbroken over Queenie. Lally finds him and asks him to help her and the others try to defeat Grindelwald. Jacob wants out and rejects her offer, saying that she hasn’t got a clue what he’s been through. She does a quick recap of the events in the previous films for two reasons: one, to prove to Jacob that she does understand and know, and two, for the audience to have a quick review if they had never seen the other movies, or had forgotten an important event. This could have been handled better had they done a quick flashback montage to the previous films. However, the issue here is that The Secrets of Dumbledore never discusses Grindelwald’s sudden change in appearance, and it might have been confusing to a new audience.

Another “telling, not showing” instance is Albus and Aberforth eating dinner together at Aberforth’s pub, The Hogs Head Inn. Albus is recollecting Ariana loving a dish, but he is more telling the audience about her rather than reminiscing. Aberforth bluntly tells him that he knows, because everything Albus saw, Aberforth saw too. A simple flashback of them as children or young adults would have sufficed. It also would have helped with the movie’s pacing.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald handled flashbacks a lot better than this movie. The second film showed a young Leta and Newt at Hogwarts together and a young Leta switching the two babies on the sinking ship. She explained it whilst the flashback was playing.

Pacing And Lighting

The pacing was all over the place with this film. Some scenes were chaotic; some scenes flew by; others felt too long! As previously mentioned, the fact that Aurelius is Abeforth’s son is practically glossed over; yet, we spend way too much time inside the prison rescuing Theseus from those crab-like creatures. The film was also a bit dark and hard to see at various times; I wish they would go back to filming the movies like the first two Harry Potter films.

Stupendous Soundtrack And Nods To The Harry Potter Films

James Newton Howard came back to score the third film, and he didn’t disappoint. The soundtrack is nearly two hours long! He used the Fantastic Beasts themes in perfect spots and even used the king, John Williams’ “Hedwig’s Theme” and “Quidditch Match” for nostalgic and magical purposes. Have a listen to the complete soundtrack below.

I did enjoy all the nods to the Potter films. The Gemino curse with the donuts was a throwback to when Harry, Ron, and Hermione broke into Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault, and the items inside were protected with a doubling charm. There was also a bunch of monster book of monsters taking down Grindelwald’s followers. All these Easter eggs were really fun to witness on-screen with John Williams music playing in the background. I had a big grin on my face whenever Williams’ themes were playing. Grindelwald erasing Yusuf’s memory of Leta was another nod to the original series. Jacob in the Great Hall getting tricked by Slytherins was also a throwback, as was the candy and Honeydukes.

Do I Recommend You Watch It?

I recommend Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. It is an escape, and it is refreshing. It’s not woke and in your face. It has great throwbacks and Easter eggs, and there are new magical creatures and familiar ones. I hope they make a fourth and fifth film to finish the series. The acting was great overall, although the plot was a bit chaotic and clunky.

Make sure to check out the Geeks + Gamers site for all of your Wizarding World information!