John Maguire on film: A once Fantastic franchise that has lost the secret to creating magic

Special effects and slapstick comedy fail to hide the lack of direction and emptiness at the heart of the third instalment of the Fantastic Beasts series,

Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne and Callum Turner in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore; Directed by David Yates; Nationwide, 12A; Rating: **

Poor old Newt Scamander. The mild-mannered “magizoologist” with kind eyes and a suitcase full of rescued mythical creatures, charged with carrying the Harry Potter banner into a new era of blockbuster fantasies, has found himself elbowed out of his own franchise by more recognisable characters from this layered and lucrative universe.

Played by the engaging Eddie Redmayne as if he’d recently suffered a blow to the head, Newt doesn’t even get his name in the title for Fantastic Beasts’ third instalment: The Secrets of Dumbledore. His replacement is a more vigorous and neatly groomed incarnation of Hogwarts’ headmaster Albus Dumbledore, now portrayed by Jude Law.