Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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KWEILIN, CHINA, 1932 — It's been a solid four years since we have had our fix of wizarding fun, Harry Potter-style. This week the dry spell ends with "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."
Although I would like to, I will not give you the full movie review here. I would not want to steal that proverbial thunder from John Clyde's full review, which was published on Thursday. Instead, I have the distinct pleasure of laying out, from a parent's perspective, what to expect as you make the decision on whether to take your family to this film.
So let's jump in, shall we?
Sex
There is no sex in this film or anything close to it.
As for romance, there is one scene in which Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindlewald talk about a time when they once loved each other and what it was like being in love. The romantic connection between Dumbledore and Grindelwald and its importance to the overall story arc is fully realized in this film, all of which is done through dialogue.
Language
There really wasn't much in the way of offensive language to watch out for in this film, unless you feel like being called a "Muggle" is derogatory. Personally, I'm still on the fence about that one.
It's actually kind of refreshing that there isn't a lot of inappropriate language in this film. It seems when a movie gets a PG-13 rating they do everything they can to fill their quota of swear words; not so in this film.
Violence
There is plenty of fantasy violence in this film, consistent with the previous two films. We see a lot of fantastic magic-based explosions and destruction throughout. Although it is all technically violence, it is also very visually entertaining to see the creative ways wizards can destroy a world with magic.
There are a few intense scenes of fighting, as well, some of it hand-to-hand combat. There are a couple of scenes, however, that may be disturbing for young children. In one scene we see a baby creature's throat slit and it is left to die. In another scene we see a different creature with a giant scorpion-like tail impale and then disintegrate its victims.
Conclusion
"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" is in a lot of ways milder than its two predecessors, and it is also a little slower to get going in the story department. I would say other than the few things I highlighted above, this film is pretty tame and every bit as entertaining as anything we are used to from the wide world of Harry Potter.
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