How ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Found Its Story – But Lost Moral Rights

For the first time since 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” we finally have a coherent Wizarding World movie without too many confusing subplots. But Tuesday “Fantastic Beasts” – delayed and retooled after “Crime of Grindelwald” criticize and commercial disappointment – relying too much on an oversimplified, greedy Donald Trump fable. This franchise’s fanciful outdoor seating arrangements are fit for once, but it still sinks.

Since Warner Bros. signed a new deal with JK Rowling in 2013 to continue the Wizarding World, almost nothing goes according to plan. Actors Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller Became Controversial Milestones, Who Was accused of abusing a spouse (which he refuses), the after of attack and pin. Depp was eventually fired and replaced by Mads Mikkelsen. Miller hasn’t been removed from the story yet, but with a headline-making arrest just days before “Dumbledore’s Secret” premieres, his return seems not. Meanwhile, Rowling’s anti-transgender articles yes undermining all of her reverse Potter idealism.

The behind-the-scenes drama is combined by two films that failed to match the eight “Harry Potter” films that preceded them. But “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” solved many of the problems that plagued the franchise. (The biggest fix in production could be finally replaced Rowling as lead scriptwriter.)

The result “Dumbledore’s Secret” feels like a truly worthy installment in the Potter canon. The opening scene, which features Jude Law’s Dumbledore and Mikkelsen’s Grindelwald, features two actors who feel (and look) like characters from the original Potter series. The film also explicitly acknowledges their LGBTQ+ relationship, breaking Rowling’s endless circular suggestions of a “Love dare not say its name.”

Also, the “Fantastic Beasts” part of the title is finally legal. This is the story of a rare mystical animal (“qilin,” which looks like a deer with golden dragon scales), that has a captivating relationship with the franchise’s original protagonist Newt Scamander ( Eddie Redmayne) is important to the film’s plot. There are also many other fantastical creatures that involve action, rather than endless exercises in creating marketable things.

But without so much storytelling ability (and random creatures) to lurk behind, we’re left with Rowling’s original and still-undeveloped idea of ​​”Grindelwald as the Hitler Wizard.”

In an effort to make this plot more relevant, Grindelwald goes from an accused criminal to a populist political figure trying to steal the Wizarding World’s election. . But these Trumpian echoes feel deeply uncomfortable, mainly because they raise the specter of Rowling’s turn to reactionary politics.

Once such a story might sound like part of the Potterverse anti-fascist idealism. But now it felt disgusted, like the Wizarding World was still passing on words that no longer made sense. The moral authority the franchise once had over its fans is gone; it’s hard to take any fable about taking everything and rejecting bigotry seriously.

The film also mysteriously removes the franchise’s heroine, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson), whose run time is around 90 seconds. For a franchise where the fan base tends to be female, the decision comes as a shock to viewers. Worse yet, it modifies the character of Jessica Williams – who was originally Tina’s teacher and mentor, an American Dumbledore – into a fast-talking supporting role with a terrible British accent. Williams ended up feeling lost and completely outcast.

It also doesn’t help that the film seems to increasingly aspire to bring back “the magic of Hogwarts”. Dumbledore repeats the famous “what’s right versus what’s easy” quote from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” many times, and many scenes are set in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, where the Slytherins play games juggle. The characters actually walk into the room and eloquently state their position as if to say, “Remember this place, guys? Remember how you loved it? We even reviewed the silly magic jokes of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,’ including fang-toothed monster books and enchanted items spewing out of cupcakes.

The movie simply tries too hard.

“Harry Potter” as a franchise that will last – “Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Hogwarts” by Warner-owned TBS is a rating reviewand the Potter 20th Anniversary Flashback on HBO Max is the gold standard of the art form. But nostalgia alone cannot save “Fantastic Beasts”, with reports that Warner Bros. Discovery will unplug in the last two movies so this one didn’t make.

The Wizarding World’s magic is officially broken.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here