Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

The Black Phone

Rated: MA15+The Black Phone

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Screenplay Written by: Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill

Based on the Short Story by: Joe Hill

Produced by: Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill

Executive Produced by: Ryan Turek, Christopher H. Warner

Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone and Ethan Hawke.

‘Would you like to see a magic trick?’

It’s 1978.  Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) is pitching a baseball, trying to impress a girl.

With two strikes, he almost does it.

He lives with his dad (Jeremy Davies) and little sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw).

Their dad drinks.  Finny and Gwen are tense.

Kids in town are going missing.  And they all know why.  It’s the Grabber (Ethan Hawke).  He’s taking them.

What drew me into this film was how cool the kids are – this is a movie about them; a crime, supernatural horror where kids are being kidnapped and a black phone that’s dead but still ringing.

The film is based on the short story written by, Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son and a great horror writer in his own right, see, 20th Century Ghosts (2005), short fiction piece, Best New Horror – a unique voice that’s haunting and has a punk horror feel about it.  There’s also the novel, Heart Shaped Box (2007) and others worth checking out.  Yes, I’m a fan with signed copies.

Adapted for the screen by director Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill (Sinister (2012), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and Doctor Strange (2016)), it’s like there’s a window into what it’s like growing up in a small town in Denver: bullies, parents, crushes.  Serial Killers.

Gwen as the little sister is hilarious with her little skips of excitement and comments like, ‘Dumb fucking fart knockers.’

Not only is she a fire-cracker, she has a gift.  Her dreams show her things she’s not supposed to know, like, The Grabber has black balloons.

So when her brother’s taken, she prays to God for her dreams to show her where he’s been taken.  And desperate, the cops listen because no-one else knows about those black balloons.

The suspense is built by slowing the shots, the words silent, the sound of sinister amplifying the quiet to give a moment to feel, to then screech a sudden shot to a dead kid, to get the heart pumping.  There’re some jumps here, layered over the suspense so, The Black Phone creates a suspense thriller without the gore.

There’s a lot of thought here from director Scott Derrickson with cuts back and forth when Finney realises he’s trapped in basement, where no-one will ever hear him scream.

There’s good use of objects from the creepy mask of the killer to create an other-worldly monster, the toy rocket ship like a talisman, the crack in the wall of the prison like a bleeding cut.  And of course, the black telephone.  The ringing built in the soundtrack like the sound of a saviour.

There’s a careful stepping as each piece of the story come together, each given space and care and more thought than I expected.  And there’s restraint to let the performances of the characters become the focus.

Where do they find these kid actors?!

And there’s good support from Jeremy Davies as the dad and ‘night-night naughty boy’ Ethan Hawke suitably creepy as, The Grabber.

A better than expected suspense, supernatural thriller with thoughtful pacing set to a 70s vibe.

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness

Directed by: Adrian NugentThe Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness

Produced by: Adrian Nugent, Maria Tedschi

Executive Produced by: Enzo Tedeschi

Starring: Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey, Bel Deliá, Luke Arnold, Steve Davis, Andy Rodoreda, Eduardo Sánchez, Kiah Roache-Turner, Ahmed Salama, Valeria Petrenko, Megan Riakos, Andrew Mackie.

‘Play by the rules or go away.’

Remember those piracy warning segments before watching a movie?

Before steaming, you either had to rent a movie or illegally download using a piracy platform like, BitTorrent.

Most of the population decided that downloading movies for free was OK, piracy rules be damned, so when first time producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey tried to figure out how they were going to fund their first feature film, they thought – let’s crowdfund the film, selling each of the 130,000 frames for $1, then release the film for free on BitTorrent.

A ground-breaking idea.  A crazy idea.  No one had ever crowdfunded a film this way before, but fuck it, it was the only way they were going to make it, so they went for it.

I had a lot of fun watching this doco.  I’m a horror fan, so it was a hoot getting a behind the scenes look at the making of this found footage horror flick, released back in 2011: The Tunnel.

But more than about making the film, this documentary opens up the discussion about a distribution and marketing model that had never been used before.

And it worked.

No one could see it happening.  And no distributor was going to touch the film once Enzo and Julian had made the decision to align with enemy number 1: BitTorrent.

Piracy was rampant.

It was going to destroy the industry – so they thought.

But the first-time producers saw the strategy as a way of getting around piracy – it’s not illegal if we’re giving it away for free.

And with 25 million people watching the film it was certainly a success.

Which comes down to the talent of all those involved in making the film – the script, the directing, the actors, with actor Steve Davis multitasking as camera crew, the director Carlo Ledesma also costume designer.

It’s a typical Indie experience, influenced by found footage movies such as, The Blair Witch Project (1999), Rec (2007) and Quarantine (2008).

There’s an honesty to the behind-the-scenes, the producers feeling out of their depth but obviously smart guys that well-deserved to get their movie out there.

And the rest of the cast included in the doco, The Tunnel director, Carlo Ledesma and the actors, Bel Deliá, Luke Arnold and Steve Davis came across as genuinely warm people who took a risk getting on board something that had absolutely no backing but throwing it all in, Indie-style.

As already said, good fun; with the interesting angle of making a movie through the power of the audience, hence the poster of, The Tunnel using all the names of the supporters to make up the image.

The Tunnel

Even when Transmission got onboard to distribute the DVD, there was still this controversy of associating Paramount (via Transmission) with BitTorrent.

A lot has changed in ten years.

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness illustrates how the making of, The Tunnel embraced a new model of viewing content, AKA streaming, while waiting for the industry to catchup.

These guys were the disruptors of the industry.

Originally released on the 10-year anniversary of, The Tunnel and now showing as part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival (MDFFest) I wondered why it took so long to release the documentary as it’s clear it was always the intention.

And then there’s talk of a sequel, shown in the back-and-forth interview with Eduardo Sánchez (film maker of, The Blair Witch Project).  A definite push and a way to create buzz for the possibility of, The Tunnel 2.

Why not, I guess.

And now I’m inspired to watch the feature film itself.  See link to stream here ; )

(105) The Tunnel (2011) FULL MOVIE – YouTube

Worth a watch!

Elvis

Rated: MElvis

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay by: Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner

Story by: Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner

Produced by: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss.

Executive Producers: Toby Emmerch, Courtenay Valenti and Kevin McCormick

Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh.

‘What about you Mr. Presley, are you ready to fly?’

Written and directed by Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby (2013), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Strictly Ballroom (1992), Australia (2008), William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)), Elvis is a biopic told from the perspective of infamous manager, Colonel, the Snowman, Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Colonel Parker learnt how to shake a dollar from a punter while leaving a smile on their face working in a carnival.

When he saw Elvis (Austin Butler) perform, he knew all his Christmases had come at once.

And boy, could he make it snow.

The film has a heady introduction with cuts back and forth from glaring signs and bluesy music to revival tents and the young Elvis shaking those legs.

Elvis didn’t know why the girls in the audience were screaming, until a bandmate tells him, ‘The girls want to see you wiggle.’

Austin, who sang a lot of the songs himself, is so fresh it was like getting to know the superstar all over again.  To admire the rise of this smalltown kid to become, The King.

‘That boy from Memphis,’ was put in the back of a police car after starting riots because of the way he moved on stage.

Elvis literally changed the world, embracing black America back in times of segregation while the Colonel turned his fame into a money-making machine: merchandise, records, movies, concerts, sponsors and then to the bright lights of Los Vegas.

The Colonel knew every trick in the book and then invented new ways to make money.  As long as Elvis would keep getting up on stage.

In the end, we all know, it’s a sad story, but the telling is exhilarating.

There’s risk not only in making a film about the most famous person in the world, but then changing up the music, so the soundtrack has remixes from the likes of Eminem, Doja Cat and Denzel Curry.

There’s a combination of the blues from B. B. King and Little Richard, Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton with revival music and rap so there’s an edge to the tone of the movie.

And that flash back and forth, to time stamps becoming part of the scene to cartoon add to the pace only to stop in close-up of the smoky blue of Elvis’ eyes.

Has to be said, Austin’s great as Elvis.  What an undertaking.

There’re cuts to Elvis himself and the heart still skips a beat.

What is it about this guy?!

He’s Elvis.  He’s, The King.

 

Men

Rated: MA15+Men

Written and Directed by: Alex Garland

Starring: Jesse Buckly, Rory Kinnear and Paapa Essiedu.

‘What do you want from me?!’

I had an angry response to, Ex Machina (2014) (a strong response a sign of an emotive movie, I guess).

Conversely, I really enjoyed the head-bend of, Annihilation (2018).

So I was curious to see what writer and director, Alex Garland was going to evoke with, Men.

The film follows lead character, Harper (Jesse Buckly) – it’s raining outside.

She has blood smudged under her nose.

She runs.

She stays in an idyllic country house to heal.

Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear) shows her around, a classic affable Englishman, ‘Won’t be a jiffy,’ he says.

Then comments, ‘The M4, a dreary bore.’

Then adds, ‘Watch what you flush.  It’s a septic tank and all…’

A jarring statement and a hint of what’s to come.

Geoff, it turns out, is one of the many men-clones, that Harper must endure during her time away from life.

Contrasting the clones is this heightened sense of beauty, the landscape like a moving Monet painting.

Beautiful, then flawed by a naked man, a running man, that stalks her.

The telling of, Men, feels off-centre but clever and green, like an expression of the primal with Harper taking an apple from a tree and taking a bite like Eve in the, Garden of Eden.

The film weaves around this theme of Adam and Eve, subtle, then visceral.

The present bleeds into Harper’s past, her screaming voice becoming one with the soundtrack.

What do you want from me?!

This constant demand becomes an extreme depiction of men’s misunderstanding of what a woman needs.

That a woman has her own life too.

Rather than a confronting horror, I found the thought behind the film refreshing.

 

The Innocents

Rated: TBAThe Innocents

Directed by: Eskil Vogt

Screenplay Written by: Eskil Vogt

Produced by: Maria Ekerhovd

Executive Producer: Axel Helgeland, Dave Bishop, Céline Dornier

Starring: Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim, Sam Ashraf, Ellen Dorrit Pedersen, Morten Svartveit, Kadra Yusuf, Lisa Tønne.

Norwegian with English subtitles.

‘What do you do when someone’s mean?’

A sleeping child

Is the picture of innocence.

The shot is close.

Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) has freckles on her nose.

She has an autistic sister, Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad).  Anna’s non-verbal.  She can’t even feel a pinch.

Ida is nine years old, yet it doesn’t feel like innocence when she pinches her sister, spits from the balcony and stomps on a worm.

When writer and director, Eskil Vogt (also screenwriter of, The Worst Person in the World, ‘In Competition – Feature Films’ 2021, Festival De Cannes. See review here) was asked about the idea behind the film’s title (The Innocents) he responds,

“I think kids are beyond good and evil or rather before good and evil. But I don’t think children are little angels, that people are born pure. I think children are born without any sense of empathy or morals, we have to teach them that. That’s why I think it’s interesting to see a child doing something that we would call evil in an adult. The moral aspect is more complex since they aren’t fully formed yet.”

Ida’s family has moved, her mother (Ellen Dorrit Pedersen) tells her it’s a new school, new friends.

Ida lies back on a swing and looks at the world up-side-down.

She meets Ben (Sam Ashraf).

He’s moved around a lot.

He has a bruise on his chest.

He can also move things with his mind.

I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into at the beginning of this film – children doing mean things is confronting.

Yet, as the film continues, the characters, the children get complicated.

The Innocents is a horror with children as the main characters, with the parents on the outside, not knowing or understanding.

It’s a film about forgotten kids, who suddenly find they have powers.

Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim) who lives in the building complex, finds Anna with her mind, the film following her mind like flying through the mist of the outside.

She can hear Anna even though Anna can’t speak.

‘I’m talking to someone who isn’t here,’ Aisha tells her mother (Kadra Yusuf).

Her mother cries in secret.

When the four children are together, Ida, Ben, Anna and Aisha – they become more powerful.

But rather than focussing on the supernatural, the film is about the children exploring their new powers and how each reacts to having power, therefore revealing the truth of who they are and why.

I was haunted by this film, the power shown in the ripples of water, by the wind in the trees.  Like the audience is invited into this secret world of the children as they pick scabs and dig in a sandbox, the boredom, the exploring, the violence – I believed all of it, the children the driving force of the film, shown in careful detail by cinematographer, Sturla Brandth Grøvlen.

A quietly menacing film that’s riveting, shocking and unique.

Downton Abbey: A New Era

Rated: PGDownton Abbey: A New Era

Directed by: Simon Curtis

Written by: Julian Fellowes

Produced by: Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge, Julian Fellowes

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Penelope Wilton, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye, Dominic West and Jonathan Zaccaï.

‘You rang, m’lady.’

The opening scene of, A New Era, is of course of the rambling castle that is, Downton Abbey.

Someone’s getting married – I’m not going to say who because I don’t want to give anything away, and I don’t know who they are because I never caught the ‘Downton Abbey train’.

I promised myself I’d keep an open mind while seeing all the smiling faces of the cast as they lamented the leaking roof and uttered comments such as, ‘We seem to have brought our butler.  I don’t know why.’

I was regretting not grabbing that second glass of bubbles…

It’s all very pleasant.  Except the leaking roof.  So when an offer is made for Downton Abbey to be used as a set for a film: The Gambler, it’s a matter of suffering a film crew for a month or continuing on with no money to repair the crumbling Abbey.

‘It’ll be exciting,’ is one statement.

One can only hope, I thought.

Then the Dowager, Violet (Maggie Smith) pipes up with, ‘We got through the war, we can get through this.’

Maggie Smith really does deliver the best lines, with plenty of opportunity with not only a film crew and a star that’s beautiful (see Laura Haddock as Myrna Dalgleish) while also being rude and speaking like a fishwife; a letter arrives, stating a villa in the South of France has been bequeathed to the Dowager.

Violet’s unperturbed by the potential scandal, planning to leave the villa to Lady Sybil.

But the Montmirail’s widow is unhappy at the loss of her villa.  And frankly insulted.

So while Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) runs the household and keeps the film director, Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy) happy, the majority of the family travel to meet the son and window of the mysterious Monsieur Montmirail.  To meet and smooth the transition of the villa, and perhaps find out why the villa was left to the Dowager in the first place.

I want to say I was bored throughout the entire screening, but there was just enough wry humour to keep me engaged.

When Lady Mary utters, ‘I suppose he wasn’t just a lunatic,’ about the now deceased, Monsieur Montmirail, I had to chuckle.

And, ‘They’re very French, aren’t they…  The French,’ remarks, Mr. Carson (Jim Carter).

The ‘potty’ humour made the borderline ridiculous, endearing.

Fans with a previous history with the franchise will no doubt be chuffed to see another chapter about the (many) residents of Downton Abbey.

For my taste, Downton Abbey: A New Era was not exciting at all, it turns out – but an agreeable watch with a few chuckles: yawn.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Rated: MThe Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Directed by: Tom Gormican

Written by: Tom Gormica & Kevin Etten

Produced by: Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Kristin Burr p.g.a., Kevin Turen

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alesssandra, Mastronardi, Jacod Scipio, Lily Sheen, with Neil Patrick Harris and Tiffany Haddish.

‘You’re a fucking movie star and don’t you forget it.’

Massive talent is a clever movie because it has all the humour of the Nick Cage swagger, yet layered with Nick as Nick, then Nick writing a script about the movie that is Nick, which is an, ‘adult drama’ about the friendship of two men, that is to say Nick being invited to the house of Javi (Pedro Pascal), a supposed murderous weapons dealer, in Mallorca for his birthday.

For $1 million Nick hopes the request isn’t for anything more than a party invite.

Turns out Javi has a script he wants Nick to read.

He’s a huge fan.

They get along.

It’s like kids hanging out that click and know they’re going to be best friends.

It’s good fun with some decent belly laughs along with the clever fold of story over the actor that is Nick.  He evens has an alter ego of himself as young Nick – ‘Never shit on yourself.’

There is more to the story of the film then the Cage-factor with kidnapping and cartels set on the coast of Spain.

Family drama gets involved with the ever suffering, thank-god-she’s-in-my-life ex-wife, Olivia (Sharon Horgan) with daughter Addy (Lily Sheen), ‘she thought Humphrey Bogart was a porn star.’

There’s some great dialogue here and Nick’s little flicks of the head and self-obsession in therapy with said family is gold.  As is the sincerity of Javi’s fandom seen in his wide-eyed star-struck regard of Nick.

I felt like the film goes on a bit at the end (a bit like this review, but never shit on yourself ; ) and the soundtrack gets jaunty, letting down the tone down at times.  But a good entertainer with some clever thrown in that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The Northman

Rated: MA15+The Northman

Directed by: Robert Eggers

Written by: Sjón, Robert Eggers

Produced by: Mark Huffam, Lars Knudsen, Robert Eggers, Alexander Skarsgård, Arnon Milchan

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Björk.

‘We thirst for vengeance but cannot escape our fate.’

The Northman is set in a time when the gods are worshiped with blood and villages are plundered, the people chattel, either killed or taken as slaves.

Only the strong ones survive the pillaging.  And if they live to arrive at their next destination, most wish they’d died in their homes.

The film opens with stencil against the grey imagery of ash billowing, belching from a volcano.  It’s a brutal black and white world until a child, young prince Amleth (Oscar Novak) calls out: his father, King Auvand (Ethan Hawke) has returned home.

The King and Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) reunite, but not for long.

After King Auvand is betrayed and killed by his half-brother, Feng (Claes Bang), Amleth escapes, swearing to avenge his father and to free his mother.

The film runs in chapters so Amleth grows, becoming a wolf (Alexander Skarsgård).  Now he’s the brute, pillaging villages and talking slaves.  Until he’s reminded by a Seeress (Björk) of his promise of vengeance.

There’s a touch of magic in the story telling by Robert Eggers, with expansive scenes of Nordic grasslands, black sand with running rivers and the quiet of snowflakes falling.  The constant play of colour sets the mood of the film, with the black and white, the stark, to show the harsh fight for survival, to the red of fire, to a rebirth of green and new life.

The thread of the gods runs through the film like swords run through guts and throats and already cut-off noses; the Valkyrie rides a white horse into the heavens and the white-haired Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), whom Amleth is destined to meet, can talk to the earth and evoke the wind.

The story’s about fate and the gods and family, betrayal and survival.

There’s a flair of the dramatic that needed strong performances to hold the push of violence and drama and magic.  And Eggers achieved his vision – Kidman and Skarsgård particular highlights, with Willem Dafoe made for the role of Heimir the Fool – who’s, ‘wise enough to be the fool.’

The dramatic scenes have flair but are played with just enough restraint to add the right gravitas to the dialogue.

The violence too was intense but held back enough so as not to be disgusting but to allow a harsh reality.

Overall the best way I can describe, The Northman is a film of vengeance that is both brutal and beautiful.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Rated: MA15+Everything Everywhere All At Once

Directed by: Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)

Produced by: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Jonathan Wang, Mike Larocca

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., with James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis.

‘No time to wait’.

Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) and Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) own and run a laundry they live above, in a small apartment with their daughter, Eleanor (Stephanie Hsu) and elderly father (James Hong).

Evelyn sits at the kitchen table, sifting through paperwork.  It’s time to submit their taxes.

A mundane existence.  But seen like life viewed through a mirror.  So even at the beginning, the film feels otherworldly.

That feeling builds as the film circles around again and again, so the sign of a bagel becomes significant, a fanny pack with a fluffy pig hanging as an ornament becomes a weapon, only to reappear later as a tattoo.  Or the mispronunciation of the title of a movie, Racoontouille (instead of, Ratatouille) becomes a reality.

The thought put into the making of this film is seen in the detail of creating this infinite multi-universe where the characters jump from one dimension to the other.  ‘Verse jumping’ gives them the ability of their other self in the another dimension.  So, need martial arts?  Verse jump to a universe where your self has that skill.  All it takes is a particular act, a touch of an earpiece and you’re set.

The particular required act to verse jump gets bizarre and hilarious, as do some of the other selves in other universes.

And the dynamics of the characters fold back again and again with a constant, sometimes gentle humour – a customer’s bag of laundry kept upstairs in the apartment, ‘I think the clothes are happier there’ – and sometimes delightfully twisted humour (sausages for fingers anyone?), weaved all the way through the storyline.

Even the interchange of language from English to Chinese adds to the blurring as Waymond arrives in this universe to take the body of Evelyn’s husband in the current universe to tell her that she’s the only one who can save the multiverse from the evil Toboki (Stephanie Hsu).  All the while tax auditor (Jamie Lee Curtis) is telling Evelyn that there can’t be anything more important than what’s she’s telling her about her current taxes, right now.  And this coming from an award-winning auditor – the phallic trophies on proud display.

I have to say, Jamie Lee Curtis is just pure gold as this tax auditor character.  Absolutely brilliant casting and performance.  Hilarious.

The whole cast is amazing with Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn in what looks like herself as an actress blended into the multiverse story.

There’s some far-reaching ideas here with the title of the movie just so apt.

And added to the Kung Fu fighting and humour there’s also a good foundation to the family drama so I had a good giggle, got a little teary, and was pleasantly surprised by edgy concepts held together with the use of chapters to give the movie structure.

I don’t want to give too much away because there will be plenty of buzz about this film and if you’re reading this review, you’re more than likely going to go watch it and I highly recommend it: go watch it.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Rated: MFantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Directed by: David Yates

Screenplay Written by: J. K. Rowling & Steve Kloves

Based on the Screenplay by: J. K. Rowling

Produced by: David Heyman, J. K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram and Tim Lewis

Executive Producers: Neil Blair, Danny Cohen, Josh Berger, Courtenay Valenti and Michael Sharp

Starring: Eddie Redmaye, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston and Mads Mikkelsen.

‘No one can know everything.’

A quietly rocking train.  Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) sighs.

Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) comments, ‘They like to chatter, the muggle friends.’

Grindelwald thinks of muggles as animals.

‘But they do make a good cup of tea.’

Dumbledore and Grindelwald were going to take over the world when they were young.  They made a blood pact, a powerful spell meaning they could not harm the other.

Now that Grindelwald wants to destroy the muggle world and take control of the wizarding world, it’s a pact Dumbledore regrets.

The Secrets of Dumbledore continues on from the previous instalment of Magic Beasts.  And for me, this is the best one yet.

I was absolutely delighted, there’s no other way to describe the feeling of seeing Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) along with the Pickett, the Bowtruckle and Teddy the Niffler.

Newt describes Teddy as frankly a nightmare but what would he do without him?  Remembering Teddy’s also the critter who managed to steal back the pendant holding the blood of Dumbledore and Grindelwald – he’s a very clever Niffler still obsessed with gold and still hilarious.

Queenie (Alison Sudol) still resides with Grindelwald as does the darkly disturbed Obscurial, Credence (Ezra Miller) – the only wizard powerful enough to attempt to kill Dumbledore and used by Grindelwald because the pact dictates he cannot kill Dumbledore himself.

A wanted criminal, Grindelwald wants to be free. He wants to take over the world.

To fight back, Dumbledore calls upon: Newt along with Newt’s brother, Theseus (Callum Turner), Head of the British Auror Service; Newt’s assistant, Bunty (Victoria Yeates), ‘No one can know everything.  Not even you,’ she tells Newt.

Muggle baker Jacob (Dan Fogler) is called back, even though he’s heartbroken and doesn’t want to, he can’t resist saving a dame in distress; introducing, Eulalie Hicks (Jessica Williams): ‘Well, you do know I’m a witch, right?’

And finally, there’s Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam) of an old wizardly bloodline quietly adding his graceful loyalty while he morns for his half-sister, Leta.

They all look at one another, so this is who’s going to save the world?

There’s a different tone to his instalment, less of that 1920s feel and more dungeons and deep dark forests, temples on clifftops and snow falling from the sky as Credence uses the Obscurian to tear the streets apart.

Newt with his fantastic beasts adds lighthearted moments, his crablike dance to pacify, well, killer crabs had the entire audience in the cinema giggling.

Again, the beasts were a strong feature in the film, and what I also really enjoy in, Fantastic Beasts is the use of objects – the pendant holding the blood pact, the snake wand, Newt’s case holding the magic beasts.  The attention to detail is thoroughly absorbing.  Every detail balanced, the storyline, well-paced.

There’s a perfect play of darkness and light in, The Secrets of Dumbledore as the story starts digging deeper: it’s funny, sometimes confronting, it’s explosive, dramatic and heart-warming.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.