Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets, the Harry Potter prequel brings magic back to the room

«Always» («always»): if fans were asked to summarize the saga of Harry Potter in one word it would be this. Short, simple, incisive: Severus Snape uses it as an answer to Albus Dumbledore when he asks him if after all this time he still loves Lily, the mother of the Lived Child.

(SPOILER)

This word the potterhead (fan of the wizard) tattooed on themselves, they write it on the murals and use it as a secret code to indicate a love that overcomes death. Here, in Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secretsin the dining room from April 13, returns with the same, unequivocal power. And it is immediately nostalgic effect. JK Rowling, who wrote the novels (edited by Salani) and the screenplay, is well aware of this and everyone who, even if by mistake, has crossed paths with the saga at least once in their life.

This third prequel installment was not born under the best auspices, postponed for the pandemic, between cast changes (Mads Mikkelsen instead of Johnny Depp, disgraced on allegations of violence by ex-wife Amber Heard) and various scandals (Ezra Miller was recently arrested for drunkenness after being involved in a fight with some fans in the past). The aura of sanctity that the author has always been enveloped by – at least in the eyes of devoted followers – has undergone a few shakes after the accusations of transphobia, to the point that the mother of the Wizarding World has also slipped away from the special celebratory TV for the 20 years from the first film, The philosopher’s Stone.

Despite all this, this new chapter seems to have finally found the right path. Not so much why Dumbledore (Jude Law) assembles an A-team to stem Grindelwald’s plans (Mads Mikkelsen, not exactly in great shape), convinced of the supremacy of the pure (magical) race over the Muggle one (the setting for his delusions of omnipotence could only be Berlin, with some locations seen recently in another franchise Fantasy, The Hunger Games).

In these prequel declinations the action itself takes a back seat: the idea to start was to make the viewer experience a sort of magical zoo atmosphere, between fantastic creatures and extraordinary abilities. And Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), the only magizoologist in the worldhe would have pulled the strings of this guided tour a bit as a kind of guardian-friend of the park. The female figures of reference, the Goldstein sisters, are forgettable (nothing to do with the likes of Hermione or Bellatrix). It is clear from the start that the Snaso and the Aticello, Newt’s pets, steal the show with hilarious gags. The one who should have led the comic line, the no-mag pastry chef Jacob (Dan Fogler), on the other hand, turns out to be such a revelation to receive in this chapter (drum roll) even a magic wand from Dumbledore himself.

The franchise takes off. And not because the rule is broken that if you are not a magician you have no powers, but because finally the words follow the facts and in the details we find the greatness of the message of inclusiveness of the saga.

Obviously Jacob is part of this team on a secret and special mission, together with Theseus (Callum Turner, really talented), Newt’s brother a little less rigid than at the beginning; to assistant Bunty (Victoria Yeates, delicious as in the series Call the midwife); to Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam, a presence mostly useless if not for the link with Leta, aka Zoe Kravitz) and Lally (Jessica Williams), a real revelation in the role of an ironic and brilliant teacher (finally a well-rounded woman!).

The daring adventure with a ramshackle plan behind it is fun and enjoyable and acts as a file rouge to the whole chapter but those who really love the saga could leave the room after less than five minutes from the beginning of the film and close it there, satisfied. In Dumbledore’s opening dialogue there is a whole world of feelings, emotions and memories that make the character even more complex and loved.

It is known that as a boy he made a blood pact with Grindelwald, which prevents both of them from making war, but in these two and a half hours we understand much, much more. Many questions are answered, from Dumbledore’s family with Ariana and Aberforth, to the relationship with Minerva McGonagall (who is beginning to glimpse).

Thus begins a real competition in references to books and the original film saga: it is pure delight for the senses. The climax, however, is reached when we return to Hogwarts, the first real home of Harry Potter. From the golden snitch to the tournament of the houses, from the room of necessities to the think tank: finally in this chapter the visual heart of the franchise returns to shine.

The Muggle world is beautiful, for heaven’s sake, but the public already knows it because they live there: the real journey, on the other hand, is in the Wizarding World, between spells and runes. And of this the prequels have always been lacking, but this time there is a real hope that something can changeto really go back to Hogsmeade to drink butterbeer, in the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and in all the places, like the Ministry, that have made JK Rowling’s imagery iconic on the pages and in the film.

The plot of the film presents itself as a gigantic political metaphor, full of shortcuts, elections and fanaticism. And it fits perfectly. As well as the knowledge of another fantastic creature, the Qilin, the purest in nature.

Dumbledore’s Secrets it could really bring the saga back to its original splendor, focusing on the sense of familiarity that has accompanied the public for two decades now. The crime done!