The best-selling book and movie series Harry Potter has a new spin-off.  Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the third of the Fantastic Beasts trilogy.  This time, the plot focuses on Dumbledore, a fan-favorite side character of the original Harry Potter series.  Professor Albus Dumbledore is aware that Gellert Grindelwald, a powerful and evil wizard, is plotting to gain control of the wizarding world.  He assigns Newt Scamander, a magizoologist, to take on and lead a courageous group of wizards and witches, as Dumbledore himself is unable to stop Grindelwald alone.  

“Dumbledore was my favorite character, so I am glad he is getting the spotlight now,” said sophomore Elise Rudes. 

As the group battles Grindelwald’s growing myriad of followers, they confront a variety of ancient and new animals.  This movie is set in the 1930s and crosses between the wizarding world and World War II.  It is an exciting combination of two different worlds and will keep its viewers on the edges of their seats.  

The film was released on April 6 and received mixed reviews early on. 

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore goes a long way towards righting the ship when it comes to the mixed bag of Wizarding World history,” said critic Mike Reyes. 

Addressing several of the flaws that presented themselves in the first movie as well as its sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, the new film’s script, written by J.K. Rowling and newly returned co-writer Steve Kloves, heads back in the direction of whimsy and danger that the Harry Potter films orchestrated.  The Secrets of Dumbledore brings the feelings of magic, adventure, and fun back to the Fantastic Beasts series.   

Opposing opinions of the film, however, are still being published. 

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore remained scattered across half a dozen inconsequential subplots for most of its runtime.  It looks drab and feels like it was made by people who want to leave its magical premise behind, even though the series refuses to have anything resembling grown-up politics or perspectives,” said critic Siddhant Aldahka.  

These mixed opinions have caused some to think of it as the best prequel yet, while others believe it has fallen into the same bad trap as its predecessors.  Many have already expressed their concerns about the movie. 

“I enjoyed the special effects and scenery, but as the movie went on it felt dragged out,” said sophomore Natasha Rabman.  

J.K Rowling had finished writing the script in 2019, but filming was postponed.  It was scheduled to begin in March 2020 but faced delays once again due to the pandemic.  Filming spanned multiple countries which are yet to be featured in the wizarding world, such as Germany and China.  The film originally starred Johnny Depp, continuing the pattern from previous films, but he soon stepped down to allow Mads Mikkelsen to take over.  Fantastic Beasts is available in theaters on April 14 and can be streamed on HBO 45 days after its release date. “I have loved Harry Potter since I was a kid, so I was looking forward to this movie coming out,” said senior Olivia Kass.