Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

This likable third installment is an improvement over the overwrought and dour second film but continues to prove how difficult it is to recapture the magic of the original Harry Potter films. In Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, director David Yates and screenwriters Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling have crafted a straightforward political drama that weaves in the importance of magical creatures even in international elections. Mikkelsen, who's always quite good at acting the villain, does a fine job of harnessing Grindelwald's intensity (though he tones down the charisma of Depp's performance), and Law captures the near-prescient wisdom of Professor Dumbledore. Their characters' conversations simmer believably with the anger and longing of former lovers (their adolescent coupledom is an important part of the story).

But Newt's story doesn't seem to move forward much, particularly because Tina (Katherine Waterston) is conspicuously missing from the proceedings, a glaring omission that isn't adequately explained in the script, given that she's a head Auror, her sister is in danger, and Grindelwald is threatening the entire magical and non-magical world. Another issue that may confuse longtime Potter fans is the prominence of the qilin, a rare magical creature that hitherto was unknown and unexplored in the wizarding stories or even Scamander's authoritative book. (Of course, those same Potterheads will probably be the first to forgive these continuity issues in order to keep faith that the magical universe will continue.) In the supporting cast, Williams stands out as an American witch who's an expert at Charms, and Miller is heartbreaking as Credence, who just wants to know his true story. The film, like all in the Wizarding World, has fabulous production design and costumes (by Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood), and it boasts another of James Newton Howard's evocative scores. At this point, there's a built-in audience for these films, but you have to wonder when it's time to wrap up and simply wait another decade for the inevitable remakes of the originals.