Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) gathers a group of allies together to help him in his bid to prevent Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) from strengthening his position further in the wizarding world. 

When a rare and special creature is born that can not only see glimpses into the future but see those who are pure of heart Grindelwald senses an opportunity. Dumbledore who is unable to move against his former lover due to a magical bond they made as younger men brings Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), his assistant Buntie (Victoria Yeates), his brother Theseus (Callum Turner), muggle Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), professor Lally (Jessica Williams) and Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam) to help him. Due to the need to confuse someone who can see into the future they are all sent off to do separate tasks none of which any of the others should know about. 

There are also plot threads involving Credence (Ezra Miller), Queenie (Alison Sudoi) and Aberforth Dumbledore (Richard Coyle). Whilst my favourite character from the previous films, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) is sidelined to a tiny walk on part thanks to her apparently now being head of the Aura department in the U.S. Our loss. 

I have to say that this third feature is much more of a return to the form of the original Fantastic Beasts and infinitely better than Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Even if there are some baffling narrative choices that may or may not make sense if they ever complete the series. 

We get to enjoy Jacob and Queenie interacting again, Newt being weird with animals, some great magical battles and plenty of “wizarding world” references. Mads Mikkelsen also is a much better villain than Johnny Depp was and returns Grindelwald to the menace that Colin Farrell brought. Perhaps they should change the actor for each film without making any reference to why? 

The issues are still plenty enough to put off those who have reservations from the first two films though. For all of the plot that unravels here we still seem like we are moving very little in this grand arc of five planned films. The fact this film seems to move Newt, the main character from the first two films, to a supporting role suggests a lack of faith in the new creation in favour of fan favourite Dumbledore. Something that is cemented further by the fact Tina is virtually removed altogether. 

As a stand-alone film it’s plenty entertaining. Try not to think too hard about the fact that this is meant to be the third film in a series of five that seems to be meandering a little aimlessly.