Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore‘s Rotten Tomatoes score is now out – and it accurately reflects the first wave of reviews from critics. That is to say: the consensus is somewhat mixed, yet leaning toward the positive side of things. At the time of writing this, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 61%, with forty-four reviews having been submitted. Read below for a smallp sample of why the reviews are landing the way they are:
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ComicBook.com‘s Patrick Cavanaugh says that “It feels like a film giving us characters with multiple layers shouldn’t necessarily be worth celebrating, but given how one-dimensional and uninteresting all of the characters felt in previous installments, it comes as a shock to actually invest in their outcomes. Previously, they merely felt like cogs in a machine that were required just to move the franchise vehicle forward, while Secrets of Dumbledore finally feels like it reevaluated what it needed to fulfill for the overall story, and that reevaluation actually pays off.”
Critic Perri Nemiroff says that “Secrets of Dumbledore is a big bounce back for the Fantastic Beasts series — back to enjoying the group dynamic and caring about the main mission, which is a far more engaging and emotional ride than the last.”
Express UK wasn’t convinced that the franchise is progressing in the right way, saying, “Great performances from all the cast, in particular Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen, can’t save this dull and pointless threequel in the Harry Potter universe. JK Rowling and Steve Kloves’ plodding script is a dud. Somebody please wave a wand and find some plot and characters for us to actually care about.”
The Wrap agrees that Fantastic Beasts 3 is too scattered in focus: “It’s hard to care much about any of the many, many characters in “The Secrets of Dumbledore” because hardly any of them have a meaningful storyline or character arc of their own.”
In the end, Screen Rant feels the franchise has survived well enough to warrant the next installment – if only barely: “Die-hard fans of Harry Potter will likely find themselves entranced by the various references in The Secrets of Dumbledore, and there may even be some casual viewers who are turned back on to the franchise after this installment. However, this is still a flawed series, and considering how there are two more movies ahead, it isn’t yet clear if it can stick the landing. The Secrets of Dumbledore holds positives and negatives alike, and that makes for an entertaining, but slightly unsatisfying viewing experience.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore hits theaters on April 15th.
