Director: David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Mads Mikkelsen, Dan Fogler, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol.Rating: **1/2A Rowling, this don’t go …For a bunch of movies about a bloke who carries around an entire zoo in a tiny suitcase, the Fantastic Beasts franchise sure has acquired a lot of unwanted excess baggage.Since the initial cinema release of Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them six years ago, the good name of series creator J.K. Rowling is no longer a glowing seal of endorsement – largely due to the Harry Potter author’s abrasive activities in the online realm.Then there was the fallout from the second movie, after casting a radioactively unpopular Johnny Depp as the franchise’s all-important supervillain, Gellert Grindelwald.And, of course, there is that elephant in Rowling’s room which has never shown any sign of leaving: the clunky Fantastic Beasts concept just isn’t much good.Nothing that has happened to date warrants being mentioned in the same breath as Harry Potter.So as we reach the midway point of the Fantastic Beasts series with The Secrets of Dumbledore – the third movie in a planned set of five of these Potter prequels – the aggressively uninvolving adventures of that nervy nerd Newt Scamander and his flamboyantly forgettable friends and enemies continues to listlessly trudge on.Before the (in) action picks up in the new movie, an early scene shared by the legendary Dumbledore and his former close friend Grindelwald establishes two key developments viewers need to be aware of.Firstly, Johnny Depp is no longer playing the wicked Dark Wizard that is Grindelwald. The gig has gone to Mads Mikkelsen, a change few could argue with, considering the great reputation of this fine Danish actor.Secondly, with the era depicted now well into the 1930s – which means World War II is looming on the horizon – there could be no worse time for that notoriously anti-Muggle Grindelwald to be making a legitimate run at becoming No. 1 in the Wizarding World.There is going to be this big vote on who gets to lead all wand-wavers through the turbulent times ahead, and it seems like Grindelwald has just about everyone fooled with his new “Me? I’m not so evil anymore” act.Everyone except the great Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), of course. He soon dispatches his loyalest acolytes to all corners of the globe to stop his enemy from completing a fraudulent takeover.Leading from the front once more is the best student Dumbledore ever had on his books, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). Johnny Depp has quit his role in the third instalment of the Fantastic Beasts film franchise after his unsuccessful trial against The Sun newspaper. The twitchy “magizoologist” with the wispy voice and a suitcase full of funny, freaky creatures hasn’t evolved much as a character since the first movie (possibly because of the many irritating tics of the trade that Redmayne brought to the role).Nevertheless, he’s the fellow we are honour-bound to follow as he renews acquaintances with Fantastic Beasts’ jam-packed stable of goodies (most prominently, Dan Fogler as the mouthy Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski) and baddies (the controversial Ezra Miller as doom-magnet danger man Credence Barebone).For at least the first 100 of its near-150-minute running time, The Secrets of Dumbledore plods along in a state of amiable dullness. Every so often, the filmmakers will throw in a sudden shout-out to the Harry Potter fanbase — such as a swift storytelling pit-stop at Hogwarts — to make sure they stay awake.Thankfully, as we near election day for the gruesome Grindelwald (Mikkelsen is far and away the best featured cast member throughout), the movie final shifts up a few gears, and shows some welcome urgency and cohesion.A case of too little, too late? Probably. Those who have stayed the course of the first two movies and remain curious as to how this meandering saga will finally lock into its rightful orbit in the Potter-verse will be content enough with The Secrets of Dumbledore.However, any latecomers to the bandwagon are advised to think twice before jumping aboard.Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (M) opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday.
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