Movie Review
In this third film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, we’re presented with a lot more of Albus Dumbledore and his family dynamics. The first two films were heading to this clash between Dumbledore and Grindlewald, but this story feels slightly out of place based on how they were putting together the series. The fantastic beasts, while present, took a backseat in the battle between these two powerful wizards.
However, I truly enjoyed it as it had some very exciting moments as Dumbledore worked his magic (both figuratively and literally) to set his path for the clash against Grindlewald. There are some great tense scenes that raises the excitement level. The prison escape sequence was both fun and edgy.
Eddie Redmayne once again shines as does Jude Law. Replacing Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen was neither hit nor miss. Mads is always great but didn’t bring anything exciting to the movie over above and beyond what was required.
Video
Shot digitally, this video presentation is beautiful. It really highlights the blue/grey LUT used to style the film’s look. The Dolby Vision helps with the contrast in the darker scenes and really helps during the prison sequence with its popping whites and red hues.
The duels involving Dumbledore also showcase the beauty of this transfer with flashing bright wand magic blended perfectly with the darker universe in which the battles take place.
Skin tones look great as do the details in the costumes and set pieces. All-in-all, this is a top-notch presentation from Warner Bros.
Audio
Recent releases from Warner Bros. have been demo worthy, unfortunately, the Atmos track here misses that mark. While the heights are fairly active, they don’t appear dynamic with the objects moving around overhead. This doesn’t mean they don’t sound good.
The surrounds are used effectively and are less static with objects moving around the room which is most noticeable during the battles. The LFE doesn’t hold back when needed and adds to the immersion of the moment.
Extras
You’ll have to toss in the included Blu-ray disc to get access to the bonus features. The first few focus on Dumbledore, and then we get into more based on the movie itself.
- The Dumbledore Family Tree
- Dumbledore Through the Ages
- Magical or Muggle – A silly game the cast plays to see what term is magic or muggle.
- The Magic of Hogwarts – How they brought Hogwarts back into this movie.
- Even More Fantastic Beasts – Discussing the beasts in the movie
- Newt in the Wild – Eddie Redmayne breaks down Newt’s return.
- The German Ministry of Magic – Set breakdown.
- A Dumbledore Duel – Breakdown of how they filmed a duel.
- The Candidates’ Dinner – Jacob’s battle and rescue in a pivotal moment in the film.
- Erkstag Jailbreak – A cool breakdown of one of the best parts of the movie.
- Battle in Bhutan – Breakdown of the climactic final battle.
- Deleted Scenes
- The Secrets of Cursed Child – The actor who plays Dumbledore on stage brings through a little promo for the stage play.
Conclusions and Final Thoughts
While not the best movie in the series, there were some truly exciting moments that make it well worth the watch. Supported by a strong video presentation and a slightly above mediocre Atmos track and a decent amount of extra features it’s well worth the purchase to round out that collection of Fantastic Beasts films.
