Despite its connection to the immensely popular Harry Potter films, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is barely average, and doesn’t even approach the magical excitement of the Harry Potter films.

This third installment in the Fantastic Beasts franchise continues the journey of Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. The evil dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, played by Madds Mikkelsen, is doing what he can to take control of the wizarding world. Scamander puts together his team of magic superheroes to overcome the evil that Gellert is advancing on the wizarding world. Jude Law plays the beloved Albus Dumbledore.

The acting in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is decent, and that is its strongest selling point. Director David Yates also has an eye for visual brilliance, and the storyline got marginally better as the film progressed. But structurally it is just a mess. There are too many unexplained, silly moments, and the magical vibe just never materializes. Unfortunately, the previous two Fantastic Beasts films were no better.

Don’t get me wrong—Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is not a terrible movie, and I’m sure some will appreciate or maybe even love it. I just found it, again, only average. It actually left me wondering whether they possibly rushed the filmmaking, which would explain a lot. Just two and a half stars for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.