Fantastic Animals 3： The Mystery of Dumbledore： Has magic lost its charm？

Original title: Fantastic Animals 3: The Mystery of Dumbledore: Has the magical world lost its charm?

With the aura of "Harry Potter", Fantastic Animals 3: The Mystery of Dumbledore came at last under the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, which can be described as full of ambition. However, the reality is not satisfactory. Whether it’s a die-hard Harry Potter fan, a new "magic animal" fan, or a passerby audience, it seems that they are not satisfied with this new film. Douban score has been falling all the way, from 7.7 in the first part to 7.0 in the second part, and now to 6.1 in the third part. Also directed by David Yates and written by J.K. Rowling, why did the quality of Fantastic Animals 3 drop so badly? To answer this question, we need to go back to the beginning of the whole "Harry Potter movie universe".

In 1997, Joanne Catherine Rowling, a 32-year-old English teacher living in Britain, applied for a grant of 13,000 pounds from the Scottish Art Association, and finally she was able to crystallize her years of hard work — — The novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was delivered for publication. At that time, Joanne probably didn’t realize that the story of this little wizard, which she conceived on a train trip many years ago, will be translated into 73 languages in the next 20 years, with global sales exceeding 500 million copies and making her one of the richest women in the world.

"Harry Potter" can become the largest IP with the most global influence in the early 21st century, and Warner Pictures has contributed a lot. From the first film "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" in 2001 to the final chapter of the series in 2011, eight films were made in ten years, with a global box office of over 7.7 billion dollars. Because movies have stronger penetration ability than novels, although the content of novels inevitably gains and losses in the process of film adaptation, more audiences are familiar with Harry Potter’s story series through movies. Especially since the fifth part, novels and movies have started a mutual promotion development model, and through the iterative development of the global network new media community, the attention of the global audience has been continuously enhanced. Unfortunately, due to various restrictions, Harry Potter’s novels finally ended in the seventh Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. From the perspective of literary creation, the end of the seven-part series is not perfect, but it is quite wonderful enough to make J.K. Rowling a legendary writer in the history of children’s literature in the world. However, for Warner Pictures, the film producer, this is far from enough. Anyone who knows a little about the operation mode of modern commercial films will know that the biggest risk of the film industry comes from the uncertainty of the box office. And a film series can create a stable box office of about 960 million dollars per film in ten years. For film companies,Undoubtedly, it is an indispensable "cash cow" and an excellent material for the company’s management to "tell stories" about the capital market. Therefore, for film companies, the popularity of the Harry Potter series must continue in some form. This is what we know today as the "Fantastic Animals" series.

In the wizarding world of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a very important book, which describes all kinds of magical creatures in the wizarding world. This book was written by J.K. Rowling under the guise of "Newt Scarmand", which can be regarded as the author’s attempt to further present the "magical world" in his mind, and also laid the groundwork for the subsequent brand-new creative plan.

At the end of 2016, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" was released as the first film in the Fantastic Animals series. This is the first original film based on "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter", and it is also the beginning of the prequel five-part series of Harry Potter. It is worth noting that in July of the same year, the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, as an orthodox sequel to the Harry Potter series, was released in Britain, which was also an original work without novel support. Connecting the two, it is not difficult to see that the consensus of all parties concerned with IP interests at this time is that not only the story system should be added, but also the business model should be subtracted — — It doesn’t matter whether there is an original novel or not. The name "Harry Potter" alone can pry open the public’s wallet.

But from the actual effect, it is not satisfactory. On closer inspection, the main stage of both novels and movies is at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which can be described as "small scenes and big scenes", and the creators can be as elaborate as ivory carvings. From novels to movies, professional film production teams can simplify the original works and highlight the backbone, so that the original party and passers-by audience can be satisfied separately.

However, in the series of Fantastic Animals, the film creation is gradually developing in the direction of collapse, and the key point is that all stakeholders in IP want too much — — It is necessary to position itself as a prequel to Harry Potter and show the long-cherished wish of Dumbledore and the first generation of "the Great Devil" Grindelwald; It is also necessary to show magical creatures and expand the scope of "the magical world of Harry Potter"; It is also necessary to get rid of the positioning of "youth movies" and March towards all ages, and even evolve into a "movie universe" … … Objectively speaking, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first film in the series, still maintains the consistent tonality of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling’s iconic "suspense-reversal" narrative mode continues, and the display of magical animals is basically the driving factor of the main plot. However, in Fantastic Animals 2: The Crime of Grindelwald, because of too much consideration, a large number of plot designs went into a dead end, which destroyed the integrity of the narrative logic of the film. Because too many new characters are added, and there is not enough time to lay out the growth curve of the characters, both new and old characters tend to be instrumental. But finally left a fairly satisfactory plot hook at the end of the story.It left the audience with the expectation that the villain camp was about to make a big event.

Disappointingly, whether as a single film work or as a connecting link in the series, Fantastic Animals 3: The Mystery of Dumbledore is hardly qualified. First of all, as the focus of the last film, the villain Grindelwald’s "plan to seize power" and the fateful battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald were all handled very hastily, giving people a feeling of "getting things done as soon as possible". Secondly, the behavioral motives of the characters are unclear, and the roles are collectively degraded. As the most important "magical animal" in the film, although it can be seen that the director tries to let them play the role of promoting the main plot, it actually makes the magical animal role more instrumental and even makes it a dispensable existence.

Although we don’t know the whole picture of the creative process of Fantastic Animals 3, judging from the state presented by the film, all stakeholders are not in a state of joint efforts, but in a state of mutual game. Fantastic Animals 3 is the greatest common denominator after this game, taking care of all aspects, but in the end no one is satisfied.

Before and after the release of Fantastic Animals 3, there were rumors that Warner Pictures intentionally suspended the production of this series after the management adjustment. In fact, whether it’s to finish this series, or to start a new business, as long as there are enough loyal fans in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the legend of the Wizarding World will continue. In short, as long as the capital never sleeps, the "story" can always go on. (author:Associate Professor of Tianjin Art Vocational College and Deputy Secretary General of Tianjin Popular Science Writers Association　Liu Jian)