This weekend at the movies, it's going to be all about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. I got to see a sneak preview and really enjoyed this latest installment in the Fantastic Beasts story! Let me give you my SPOILER FREE review.
First, visually, the movie is top notch. The special effects of the magic, the new animals, the locations, going back to Hogwarts (my favorite part of the film), all of it looked incredible. You're not getting anything but the best with any of the movies in the Wizarding World.
Acting wise, I thought Mads Mikkelsen did a fantastic job taking over as Grindelwald. He always plays a great villain where his evil side shines through and it certainly came out here. A confident, cocky evil. One of my favorite things about him as an actor. And the show stealer of the film is Jessica Williams as Lally. She is such a strong wizard and right away, from her first wave of the wand on screen, you know she's not to be messed with! I hope she'll be back for more with Fantastic Beasts!
As for the story, like all of the Wizarding World movies, there are a lot of characters that you have to keep track of. They do a good job reintroducing you to them but, if you have time, I would highly recommend watching the first two movies again before you go to see Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. It would be good to refresh yourself with everyone and know who is who and what is what going in.
With all of that said, I definitely would recommend going to the movies and seeing Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore this weekend. I give it 4 out of 5 wands!