[Fresh on 4K] ‘THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE’ possess some magic in the tech department but little else

From an audio/visual standpoint on its own, THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE is quite a solid viewing experience. But for those looking for substance beneath the style, it’s honestly difficult to recommend adding this film to their collections.

Connor Bynum // Film Critic

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE

Rated PG-13, 142 minutes.
Director: David Yates
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, Mads Mikkelsen, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Alison Sudol, William Nadylam, Richard Coyle and Ezra Miller

The FANTASTIC BEASTS film series has struggled to justify its existence from the moment the first film released in 2016. While the first installment was met with a generally positive reception, its sequel THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD was practically doomed from the start. While the drama surrounding the Grindelwald actor Johnny Depp certainly didn’t do the sequel any favors, that film was flawed at best and chaotically stupid at worst. So, it shouldn’t be all too surprising that the third chapter in the series of five allegedly planned movies felt more like an obligation than a long-anticipated return to the Wizarding World. Now that the film is available on 4K UHD, it’s safe to say that the technical wizardry behind these films hasn’t lost its magic just yet.

Movie Grade: C-

From our Theatrical Review:

“The third installment of the FANTASTIC BEASTS series had so much promise. HARRY POTTER franchise screenwriter Steve Kloves entered to co-write the screenplay alongside author J.K. Rowling (who penned the first two movies on her own to varying degrees of forgettable). Hot off his killer dance moves in ANOTHER ROUND, Mads Mikkelsen took over the role as nefarious dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald from Johnny Depp. And the trailer made it look like it would be recapturing a little more of that POTTER spirit by returning some of the action to Hogwarts. However, despite a hilarious scene with some red crab-like creatures and an always terrific Dan Fogler, THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE keeps the wheels on the Knight Bus spinning round and round. It takes us nowhere new or exciting and is frustratingly dull, convoluted and without magic.

Nailing down the issues within THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE is about as complex as the material itself. On the one hand, as a POTTER fan, you’re wanting to forgive its shortcomings because you want this new series to succeed. There will be an amusing scene and a lot of dry exposition and meaningless action. Taking a page out of the STAR WARS prequels, this is a hugely political narrative. It’s difficult to shake the obvious comments it seems to make about a recent administration and the real world. But it never does anything interesting with it (outside of the basic good vs. evil plot) to compel you enough to want to see where it goes, and it barely goes anywhere.”

Video/Audio Grade: A-

THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE is presented in a native 4K resolution as it was mastered in a 4K Digital Intermediate. Therefore, there is very little to complain about when evaluating the film strictly by its visual quality. As it may have come to be expected when discussing the 4K UHD format, all of the usual details are given additional clarity compared to the 1080p Blu-ray version.

Skin tones, practical sets and props, costumes, etc., are all given that extra boost in quality one would expect from the format. While a handful of the computer-generated creatures can occasionally feel somewhat detached from their live-action counterparts, the digitally created magic effects have never looked better. Despite the film’s story frequently floundering in material mostly covered in previous installments, THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE offers some of the most creative and visually intricate magical action scenes in the POTTER franchise.

Outrageous amounts of detail can be found in scenes such as the duel between Dumbledore and Credence in a city street where Credence crumbles entire buildings and sends the debris hurtling towards his enemy or the escape sequence when Jacob and Lally run up a set of stairs made of magically floating book pages surrounded by thousands of flying bits of dinnerware and cutlery. These moments are simply bursting with creativity and the visual clarity on display during such scenes truly is top-notch stuff.

The visuals are also improved with HDR and Dolby Vision, although the differences in this area are slightly more subtle. This is primarily due to the film’s color palette being relatively muted and desaturated by design, so while what little added depth there is with the expanded color spectrum is certainly appreciated, the differences from the Blu-ray may be on the lighter side. The film benefits from HDR and Dolby Vision with its deeper blacks and brighter whites. The film is almost entirely shot, with darkness playing a pivotal role in its shot composition, so this expanded level of brightness is a most welcome addition.

The disc also comes with a Dolby Atmos audio track and a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix, both of which are perfectly enjoyable. The action sequences are where the audio mix can flex its muscles. The rear and side channels and dialogue can be easily heard throughout. There definitely aren’t many negative things to say on this film’s visual or audio side other than that they’re simply doing the best they can with a mediocre movie.

Extras Grade: B

The special features can only be found on the included 1080p Blu-ray disc, and to be honest I wasn’t expecting very much in this department. While the included features are all on the shorter side of between five and eight minutes apiece, it’s nice to see that some effort was made to give the audience a closer look behind the curtain than expected.