Starring Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen

Directed by David Yates

Warner Bros., out now

 

As magician Grindelwald fights to be elected as head of the magic council, Albus Dumbledore sends a band of misfits off on a dangerous mission.

If this wasn’t the third part of a planned five-movie series, you wonder whether Warner Bros would have abandoned it and cut their losses. From the forced replacement of Johnny Depp as Grindewald, to writer J K Rowling’s comments on gender, and Ezra Miller’s recent public arrest in Hawaii, this movie has attracted enough negative publicity to sink it, which is a shame, because it’s a far more satisfying experience than the over-plotted and impenetrable Crimes of Grindelwald.

If we can park the wider external considerations and look at the film as just a film, it’s an easy-to-watch, big budget fantasy movie with some humorous touches and decent set pieces. Making comparisons with the Potter movies, it’s a Half-Blood Prince rather than a Prisoner of Azkaban, and if you’re up for the ride, there’s plenty to admire in the design categories and James Newton Howard’s lush score.

Eddie Redmayne feels more at home as Newt Scamander this time round, and occasionally dodgy accent aside, Jude Law is good as Dumbledore. But Mads Mikkelsen’s Grindelwald just doesn’t have the danger of Johnny Depp’s portrayal, and the absence of Katherine Waterston’s Tina is greatly felt. The rest of the gang from the previous movies are on good form, but ultimately it’s just another part of a bigger, more important story with a few good scenes, killing time until the finale.

The big question is of course whether there’s enough of an audience to justify the completion of the story, either as the planned two movies or a single one to wrap things up and draw a line under it. Box office is quite likely to be hit by the audience voting with its feet – whether as a protest or disinterest simply because this franchise is not a patch on the boy wizard’s adventures.

Verdict: Competently made, and with some solid set pieces, but if ever there was a movie entering a lion’s den of negative public discourse, this is the one. 6/10

Nick Joy