Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Ezra Miller in the David Yates movie ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

It’s my contention that the low grades offered by other reviewers of the David Yates directed Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) were harsh and not completely fair. As the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindlewald (2018), this third installment into the wizarding world pre-dates the Harry Potter world by approximately seventy (70) years.

(From left, Oliver Masucci as Anton Vogel and Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

Writing credits for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore rested with J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, with Kloves reemerging after several successes as a screenwriter for many of the novels written by Rowling for the Harry Potter movies. That Gellert Grindelwald appears in this Fantastic Beasts movie in a third incarnation is perhaps the biggest distraction entering this movie. *Remember that Colin Farrell had portrayed American auror Percival Graves in the original movie, only to be revealed as Gellert Grindelwald in disguise as portrayed by Johnny Depp for the remainder of the first and second movies. Mads Mikkelsen entered that role with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

(From left, Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, Jessica Williams as Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks, Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Callum Turner as Theseus Scamander in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The central story of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in large part continues to focus on the theme of blood relationships coupled with the future of the magical world. The central action for the movie transitions from Paris, France with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald to Berlin, Germany with touchpoints in Kweilin (also spelled Guilin), China, Scotland (Hogwarts), and New York City, New York, United States. Grindelwald looks to gain control of the International Confederation of Wizards, which is due to elect a new head in Berlin.

(From left, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore and Richard Coyle as Aberforth Dumbledore in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The pair of secrets that informs much of the conflict are, indeed, the conflicts among siblings that inform much of the Fantastic Beasts world. The nature of the blood pact between Albus Dumbledore, as portrayed by Jude Law, and Gellert Grindelwald keep the two from acting in opposition to one another, despite contrasting world views. With the notion of a fantastic beast known as a qilin central to the Grindelwald’s ambitions, Grindelwald had dispatched Credence Barebone to the birth of a qilin in Kweilin to interfere with some special qualities for the birdlike creature. Barebone beats Newt Scamander to the quick in protecting the qilin’s birth, with much to come from the exchange. Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander as Ezra Miller portrayed Credence Barebone.

(From left, Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein and Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The relationship that Credence Barebone has to the Dumbledore bloodline invokes brotherly questions between Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore, with Aberforth Dumbledore portrayed by Richard Coyle. Newt Scamander and his brother, Theseus Scamander as portrayed by Callum Turner, must join forces to with non-magical helper Jacob Kowalski, American Charms teacher Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Newt’s assistant Bunty and French wizard of Senegalese descent, Yusuf Kama. Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, Victoria Yeates and William Nadylam portrayed Kowalski, Hicks, Bunty and Kama, respectively.

(From left, Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone, William Nadylam as Yusuf Kama and Victoria Yeates as Bunty in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

The goals of Dumbledore’s group overlapped in opposition to those in some ways as the roles portrayed by Anton Vogel and Queenie Goldstein. Oliver Masucci and Alison Sudol, portrayed Vogel and Goldstein, respectively. Tina Goldstein, Queenie’s sister as portrayed by Katherine Waterston, had a small role with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore that did more for the Fantastic Beasts franchise than it did for this particular movie.

(From left, Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

Lynn, my wife and significant fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, rates Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as the third movie for her in the Fantastic Beasts movies currently released. There’s an early and difficult scene with a qilin that was arguably too graphic for this franchise that I think set the stage for the larger movie experience for her. The emotional impact that this action had for the larger story is understandable, yet could have been depicted with more subtlety, in my personal opinion. The larger story did work for me, however. I grant Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as directed by David Yates 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, July 13, 2022

The Year 2018 in Movies and Television

Cinema and television were two joys that entertained me for much of my life. Through the year, we at Matt Lynn Digital averaged reviewing roughly two movies or television shows per month, even as we enjoyed more than this. On a rating scale of 1-star to 5-stars, Matt rated 19-films as well as the first season of a television series that debuted in August.

Four (4) films outshone the rest by rankings of 4.00 or higher. These simply were films of the highest quality that we would like to watch again and again. The gold rated as reviewed in 2018 include:

1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

2 One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)

3 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

4 It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) tells the story of a friendship and humanity forged behind the bars of a Maine prison as one of the two was completely innocent of the charges raised against him. The endearing quality of the film is that the true bonds of decency can persevere even against the strongest of odds.

Eight (8) films earned rankings of 3.75, which would commend repeated watching, enjoyment, and discussion among friends. While not the all-stars among all-stars, the great movies included are:

1 Hoosiers (1986)

2 The Shape of Water (2017)

3 Logan (2017)

4 Dunkirk (2017)

5 Wonder Woman (2017)

6 Platoon (1986)

7 First Man (2018)

8 Vanilla Sky (2001)

Hoosiers (1986) told a story of friendship, redemption, and community in small town Indiana where high school basketball was king. Checkered pasts were the tale as we also were gifted the chance to see a recovering addict stand up and redeem himself in his big screen community as well as Hollywood.

Six (6) movies and one (1) television show were reviewed this year as engaging with passing grades of 3.5-stars on a 5-point scale. Redeeming qualities were present, yet these features might not muster repeated watches from the good folks at Matt Lynn Digital.

1 The Post (2017)

2 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

3 Live By Night (2016)

4 Atomic Blonde (2017)

5 Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

6 Deepwater Horizon (2016)

1 Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018)

The Post (2018) tells us of the widow Katherine (Kay) Graham, who takes over leadership of The Washington Post following her publisher husband’s death. Not only was Graham facing 1960s era chauvinism and misogyny, she also was facing a president competing with the media for control of the political narrative coming out of the nation’s capitol.

Finally, one movie came in at slightly less than the rest with a grade of 3.25-stars on a 5-star scale. This movie tells of a man manipulated into doing a random string of unethical behavior at the behest of another. The outcome is less than satisfying, and thus the lowest ranked movie review of the year.

1 The Commuter (2018)

Matt – Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Review of the film ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’

The film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) has arrived at a cinema somewhere near you! Lynn and I saw the movie Wednesday afternoon with a decent fellow audience for what is the second installment in the Fantastic Beasts series movies by J.K. Rowling, with a review of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016) available here. To warn you ahead of time, this review includes spoilers from the movie. Our recommendation is to see and enjoy the movie, yet read on before or after at your own risk.

(Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald.)

At the end of the first Fantastic Beasts movie, we see that Gellert Grindelwald (played by Johnny Depp) had been captured in New York City after posing as the auror Graves to acquire an Obscurus that had been terrorizing that city in the 1920s. Grindelwald, who figures in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, escapes to Paris.

(Jude Law as AlbusDumbledore.)

Albus Dumbledore, introduced to the Fantastic Beasts movies in Crimes of Grindelwald, is played by Jude Law. Dumbledore enlists his former student, Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne), to intervene against the villain Grindelwald and his plans. It is only later in the film that some of the context for why Dumbledore cannot combat the threat posed by Grindelwald directly.

(Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski and Eddie Radmayne as Newt Scamander.)

In roughly 1927, the sequence of the second Fantastic Beasts movie takes on the largely European setting suggested by Grindelwald fleeing to Paris. Albus Dumbledore does not leave London or Hogwarts in the movie, though obviously Paris is a featured setting. It is in Paris that Grindelwald sets about actions intended to raise pure-blood wizards to rule over all non-magical beings. Zoë Kravitz as Leta Lestrange and Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone are enlisted in that campaign.

(Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone and Zoë Kravitz as Leta Lestrange.)

The storyline with Crimes of Grindelwald calls into question where the lines of love and loyalty exist among characters and family members within the story. Themes explored in the divided wizarding world of the Harry Potter movies are taking their contextual voices within the prequel movies of Fantastic Beasts to a fuller level than seen in the Where to Find Them movie.

Without getting further into the plot of Crimes of Grindelwald, there is much to appreciate about the tension and building story of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. The two stories in this franchise to date are complementing the Harry Potter world that we know without taking things away from it.

(Carmen Egojo as Seraphina Picquery.)

We get to see legitimate questions about where the story of Newt Scamander and his brother (Theseus Scamander as played by Callum Turner) are going. We get to see society place pressure on the relationship of Queenie Goldstein (played by Alison Sudol) and Jacob Kowalski (played by Dan Fogler), and the wedge it places between these two as well as Queenie and her sister Tina Goldstein (played by Katherine Waterston). What is the full nature of the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, and how did they get the place where it is now and into the future. Will we see more of the Tom Riddle story in the Fantastic Beasts storyline?

Many questions are raised, for sure. Interesting intrigue is also raised for the Crimes of Grindelwald movie of its own accord to suggest that you see it. On a scale of 1-star to 5-stars, I rate this movie highly at 4.5-stars.

Matt – Saturday, November 24, 2018