The Potterverse machine trundles on with this third entry in the Fantastic Beasts saga, which has a slightly more downbeat and mature feel from the outset, making it perhaps the most interesting of the first three films but also often makes it painfully dour and slow, although the gang-on-a-mission format works fairly well. The world-building is as usual impeccable (notably here the German Ministry of Magic), there are a couple of good pay-off moments for longer-term franchise followers, and whilst the set pieces are good, the action seems more scaled-down and less flashy here. As expected, Mads Mikkelsen is quietly terrifying as the new face of Grindlewald, Callum Turner and Jessica Williams give noteworthy performances, but the true strength is again Jude Law as the younger Dumbledore. Perhaps a fundamental problem is that whilst the Harry Potter film series really was targeted at children and consequently nailed the magical fantasy elements, Fantastic Beasts seems to want to be more adult in its themes and treatment which gives these films an uncertainty in execution. With two films left in this proposed series, dwindling audience interest and a lack of confidence shown in this film's conclusion will be interesting for next production, which could be improved with a simple re-introduction of a bit of the original series' joy and sense of discovery.
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