FB3: Private Brawl

So I watched the third Fantastic Beasts movie. I had low expectations, thus the movie didn’t disappoint. I felt he first movie was the better than the second movie which was better than this third installment, except I can hardly remember anything from the second movie suggesting it was quite forgettable. This third movie was rather confusing, although that was partly baked into the storyline. There is a hint that the main antagonist can scry the future, but how or why is unclear, and it was nowhere as interesting as the demiguise. It also required the protagonists to be unpredictable and confusing.

 

Subtitled “The Secrets of Dumbledore”, I feel that the movie tries to capitalize on what made the Deathly Hallows one of the best books of the Harry Potter series. I found Harry Potter rather whiny in Book 5, and that downgraded it compared to some of the earlier books in my opinion. What elevated the last two books was by moving the focus away from Harry’s life by exploring the lives of the others. Albus Dumbledore’s past is a pivotal part of the final book. The movie tries to impute greater import to events in his younger days, giving a somber weight of seriousness – which also weighs down the movie in my opinion. Further weighing it down was the mirroring of the German Third Reich setting. I was not impressed.

 

Are there fantastic beasts? Yes. One of these creatures and its special powers is pivotal to the movie. Newt Scamander’s bowtruckle and niffler companions get their moments to shine, and his case can locomote and protect itself reminding me of the legged-box in the Discworld novels. There’s also one very large beast residing in a wizarding prison pre-Azkaban along with its minions. Dementors not available, perhaps? I’m being purposefully vague to avoid giving spoilers of the movie for those who care about such things.

 

There are some clever bits of magic and the special effects in some of the action scenes are enthralling. This was to be expected in this sort of movie. Teleportation was employed in a variety of ways consistent with the books – with more flair! The cleverest bit of magic though was something akin to creating a private eminent domain to do wizarding battle that separates the duelers from others. In one instance, it mirrored the Upside Down of Stranger Things. It’s not clear exactly how that magic was cast, but it reminded me a tad of similar duels in the animated manga series Jujutsu Kaisen. In any case, this isn’t completely new to Harry Potter in the instance when the meeting of spells from Harry and Voldemort’s wands (sharing the phoenix core) separates them from the onlookers in Book 4. It’s magic allowing one to have a private brawl, and maybe do less damage to the actual physical surroundings.

 

My favorite character in the movie? Jacob Kowalksi the Muggle. He provides levity and heart to the movie, otherwise in short supply. The good baker in what would have otherwise been a half-baked movie. And that’s my FB3 update.